With Jamal Murray, Aaron Gordon out, Nuggets’ injury contingency plans on display

As if the Nuggets needed their depth to be even more exposed, Aaron Gordon walked in the opposite direction of their huddle when Michael Malone called a timeout on Monday night.

Gordon was stable on his feet but definitive. He marched off the court toward the home team’s locker room and didn’t return. Five minutes into what should have been a cake-walk win, Denver was suddenly missing two of its four best players. Jamal Murray was out with a concussion, “for the next couple games, likely,” Malone said pregame. Gordon with a right calf strain, which is expected to sideline him multiple weeks, sources confirmed to The Denver Post.

The absences required multiple bench players to enter the starting lineup. Non-rotational players were needed to occupy the second unit. This is the obvious domino effect of injuries to any team, but the difference in Denver was the accompanying dread. Already through six games, the Nuggets’ offensive rating without Nikola Jokic on the floor was 41.7 points per 100 possessions worse than it was with him. The second unit’s lack of cohesion was the team’s defining flaw 10 days into the season.

It probably still is after Monday. After all, the Raptors were short-handed as well. But the feat Denver accomplished without Murray and Gordon was momentous. With Julian Strawther and Peyton Watson joining Christian Braun in a closing lineup with three rookie contracts, the Nuggets won despite losing Jokic’s minutes.

“We all dreamed of playing in the NBA,” Strawther said, “and the opportunity’s here right now with guys banged up.”

“I’m saying to myself, ‘Holy (crap),'” Malone said. “We’re out there with — I never envisioned this lineup being out there to close the game. But Jamal is out. Aaron gets hurt early in the game. I can’t play Russ (Westbrook) 40 minutes, he’s a 17-year vet.”

Since the start of the 2022-23 season, playoff games included, the Nuggets are 6-36 when their MVP center’s plus-minus is in the red. They went 2-19 in those games last year.

Jokic played about as poorly as anyone can possibly play with a 28-point, 14-rebound, 14-assist stat line. He turned the ball over seven times, including one costly pass out of bounds while targeting an unprepared Watson in the last minute — a miscommunication Jokic refused to blame on the young forward. Even more detrimentally, he couldn’t get a stop against Raptors center Jakob Poeltl.

Until he was bailed out, fittingly by one of his young teammates who wouldn’t have been on the floor without injuries.

Strawther attacked the rim with 3:53 remaining and drew a foul. Poeltl’s sixth foul. He was disqualified two minutes into Denver’s dramatic 11-point comeback, and the Nuggets suddenly had life. It ended up being only Strawther’s second-most important drive of the game. With 1:09 to go, his tough finish off the window turned out to be the last field goal for either team, giving the Nuggets a 120-119 lead and vindicating the 22-year-old’s place on the floor after a shaky first half defensively.

“Julian just said, ‘Coach, thanks for staying with me, believing in me,'” Malone said. “Hey man, you’re gonna have bad halves. I’m not gonna pull the plug on you after a bad half.”

Also, jammed inside the eventful last two minutes? Strawther deflected and intercepted a pass on a backdoor cut. That resulted in an even more memorable form of redemption than his own: Watson spotting up in the corner and sinking a transition 3-pointer that put the Nuggets ahead, 118-117. That was their first lead of the half and the loudest Ball Arena has been since the playoffs.

Watson was 1 for 11 behind the 3-point line this season before letting that one fly.

“It felt like a reward for all my hard work,” he said. “Just because the shots haven’t been going in doesn’t mean I haven’t been working at it endlessly. That’s something that I come in late and do. Come in early before practice and do. And it’s something I know I can put an emphasis on to get better. So I knew it was coming.”

That wasn’t even the full extent of the young trio’s clutch contribution. Braun is already a proven starter and closer, but he made two essential plays. First was a corner 3 of his own that got Denver within two before it was Watson’s turn. Then with 51 seconds remaining and a one-point lead, he picked the pocket of fellow Kansas Jayhawk Gradey Dick, who was trying to play the hero with 26 points.

Malone subbed in Westbrook for his defense with 40 seconds remaining. The 35-year-old backup point guard had already logged over 33 minutes, covering for Murray with 21 points, six boards and six assists. His biggest play was the last one, though a physical close-out on RJ Barrett that made his buzzer-beater attempt a little too difficult.

With Westbrook, the Nuggets have a mercurial decision-maker but also a clear replacement for Murray when injuries call for it. Behind him, there isn’t a true point guard who has earned Malone’s trust. He made that clear pregame Monday, stating that “CB and Julian will be guys that we use as kind of that backup combo guard.” Neither Trey Alexander nor Jalen Pickett appeared until garbage time in a blowout win over Utah, and the two-way player Alexander got the first nod.

“We went to kind of a point guard by committee,” Malone said Saturday. “CB was our backup one at times last year. Julian can handle. And you know Nikola and Aaron Gordon can handle as well.”

Except now the Nuggets might be forced to fend without Gordon. He came into Monday’s matchup listed as probable with a right knee contusion and right calf inflammation. His early exit was distinctly related.

“I’ll be honest, I was a little surprised he played last game,” Malone said late Monday night before news of Gordon’s multi-week absence surfaced.

“Obviously the schedule has not been overly kind to us early. But that is what it is. So Aaron’s been dealing with some just bumps and bruises. Nothing, I don’t think, serious. Nothing long-term. But I’ll have to talk to our training staff and get an update on that. Hopefully, it’s not anything significant. Because we have some really good teams coming in here.”

The Oklahoma City Thunder in particular. It’s a rematch of opening night when Denver’s offense got clobbered. OKC is still unbeaten with fewer than 100 points allowed in five of seven games. On paper, a depleted Nuggets roster shouldn’t stand much of a chance.

That could present a situation tailored for young players to work through challenging reps. Not only Strawther and Watson but Zeke Nnaji and Hunter Tyson as well. Tyson is the 10th man cracking a nine-man rotation. And Malone used Nnaji in a variety of roles Monday. He was a four in lineups with DeAndre Jordan then Jokic during the first half; a backup five in Jordan’s place during the second half. The Nuggets played Toronto even with that lineup.

“Zeke is deserving of the opportunity. Hunter Tyson is deserving of an opportunity,” Malone said. “Unfortunately when we’re completely healthy, we can’t play 10, 11, 12 guys. Or I guess you could. We just haven’t done that.”

This might just be a week to learn more about the 10th, 11th and 12th guys at the very least.

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