The Denver Nuggets faced elimination on Thursday when they hosted Game 6 of their second-round series against the Oklahoma City Thunder. They staved it off with a 119-107 victory, but in the process, their chances of winning Game 7 may have taken a big hit.
With less than two minutes to play in the fourth quarter, Oklahoma City’s Chet Holmgren stripped the ball away from Denver’s Aaron Gordon. Gordon chased it, but Alex Caruso dove to secure possession. He tried to pass it, but Gordon kicked the pass. However, afterward, he grabbed at his hamstring and seemed to be in a fair bit of pain.
Gordon remained in the game for roughly 35 more seconds of game action before going to the bench with 1:10 remaining. He returned very briefly before getting subbed back out to close the game.
After the game, Nuggets interim coach David Adelman was asked about the concern level for Gordon going into Sunday’s Game 7.
“At this point I have no idea. It would be high, obviously,” Adelman said. “Aaron is one of our guys that we… he’s a reason we’ve won games and won series and have a banner hanging up in there.”
Adelman said it was too soon to know the extent of Gordon’s injury, but having two full days off before returning to action will be very beneficial. Gordon did not have a wrap or any ice on his hamstring when the locker room was open to media members postgame, according to Tony Jones of The Athletic.
“It’s really nice to have two days for all the guys to have treatment and all of those things. I haven’t gotten a clear answer. He’ll get checked out,” Adelman said. “But I mean this, having two days off — wow this has been a marathon. The guys in there look happier that they have [Friday] off than that they’re going to a Game 7. It’s going to be really nice. It’s nice to have two days to get guys right going into a Sunday matinee. Concern for Aaron is so high. He’s played through a lot through this whole season, so we’ll see where he’s at.”
Gordon has been absolutely critical to the Nuggets this postseason, especially with fellow starting forward Michael Porter Jr. nursing a shoulder injury. He entered Game 6 averaging just under 18 points per game and providing more defense than anyone on Denver’s roster.
On top of that, he has made arguably the three biggest shots of the postseason thus far — a buzzer-beating putback dunk in Game 4 against the Clippers, the game-winning 3-pointer in Game 1 against Oklahoma City, and then, finally, the game-tying 3-pointer in Game 3 against the Thunder that sent that game to overtime. Denver won it from there.
If he is hobbled or sidelined, Denver suddenly needs to find another 40 or so minutes of production out of a bench that has struggled mightily all season. Julian Strawther was fantastic with 15 points on Thursday, and Peyton Watson can provide some of the defense and cutting that Gordon provides, but this is an extremely thin roster. Losing Gordon would be devastating for Denver, so now the Nuggets can only hope that the injury isn’t as serious as it seemed.