The Nuggets are only down 2-1 heading into a pivotal Game 4 of their first-round playoff series with the Clippers. Steal this game in LA and suddenly you’re headed back to Denver with homecourt advantage in two of the final three games.
However, the situation feels a lot more dire. The Nuggets have run their star, Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, and Aaron Gordon, into the ground already, getting virtually nothing outside of the bench. David Adelman has basically trusted his starters, Russell Westbrook, and that’s it.
It was enough to keep games 1 and 2 close at home, but things completely unraveled in Game 3 once the teams got to LA. Part of that was the strength of the Clippers and how well they played in their first playoff game in the new Intuit Dome. But part of it was just how bruised and battered the already-thin Nuggets have become.
Jamal Murray and Aaron Gordon were already banged up coming into this series. Then, Michael Porter Jr. suffered a shoulder injury in the final minutes of Game 2. And finally, Russell Westbrook suffered a foot injury in the first half of game 3 and wasn’t able to return to the floor.
There was never any doubt about the status of Murray or Gordon. We know those guys are hurt, but we know that they are going to keep playing through it. Neither player was even listed on the injury report. But MPJ and Russ were listed as questionable leading up to tip-off.
Westbrook ruled out on Saturday
But just about an hour before tip, Westbrook was ruled out for Game 4 with foot inflammation. This is a brutal blow for the Nuggets. They’ve become reliant on his energy, defense, and secondary creation and playmaking. Replacing his minutes will be no easy task for a team that was already searching for answers.
The Nuggets now have no choice but to give an extended look to some combination of Julian Strawther and Jalen Pickett to find ball-handling and shooting off the bench. It was already scary how much Denver was depending on Russ, it’s even scarier to think what that alternative will look like now.
The Nuggets were essentially playing 6.5 players in the first three games. Losing Russ is a massive blow, and coming back in this series looks like even more of an uphill battle now. You’ve got to think that if the injury is bad enough to keep Westbrook out of a playoff game, he’s going to have a very hard time coming back for Game 5 anywhere close to full strength.
Porter Jr. playing at less than 100%
MPJ is going to give it a shot, much like he did in Game 3, but we’ve already seen this movie, and it doesn’t have a pleasant ending. Porter Jr. said that it was painful to lift his shoulder over his head, that the injury required a 4-5 week recovery, and that he was operating at about 20-30%.
Those are some pretty grim comments, and it showed on the court as he had just 7 points and 6 rebounds in 35 minutes, shooting 2-9 from the field. Hopefully, he’s feeling better and can hit some shots. But without Westbrook, and with a badly compromised MPJ, this could get ugly really quickly for the Nuggets.