And now the Nuggets are losing Jonas Valanciunas…

A black cat is roaming the Nuggets locker room, and the hapless David Adelman will have to find another solution to make up for it. Nikola Jokic since Jonas Valanciunasestablished, did not finish the meeting against the Raptors. Like most injured players this year, it was his calf that gave out while he had a good time: 17 points, 9 rebounds and 3 blocks in 23 minutes.

“I’m told it’s calf strain. I don’t know how serious it is.” answered David Adelman at the press conference. “We’re getting used to it: It seems like every night someone has something. It’s nice that he gives someone else a chance. That’s how it should be seen. And I hope Jonas gets well. I hope it’s not serious — like I’ve said 19 times this month. But you have to look at things for what they are: you care about him as a person, then you want to look better. and you say, ‘Okay, you’ve been waiting to play.’ »

“Veterans” were used from the bench

On this particular night, the Denver coach improvised a lot because he absolutely wanted to keep Tim Hardaway Jr. and Bruce Brown off the bench. Result: Jalen Pickett found himself in the starting five.

“Before the match, I had no idea how I was going to rotate the players. We had to improvise and ‘feel’ the match” he continues. “The Jalen (Pickett) thing, it was just an idea: let Tim and Bruce come off the bench. Maybe they have more veterans off the bench, able to react to a bad start or a good start: can they continue? Instead of putting all your ‘obvious’ veterans together from the beginning. And I thought Jaylen was very good. He was allowed three good players to miss that we were stable. creators — with Peyton, Jaylen and Jamal — to play with Spencer and Jonas, we’re going to have to find a way to get to the fourth quarter, and in the NBA, when you’re in the game, you have a real chance.

Find a way to win

Modest, David Adelman does not draw for himself, but what he has achieved since the beginning of the season is extraordinary. Tonight he attacked the game with four starters less, and his Nuggets won in Toronto, one of the best teams in the East.

“You really have to give our guys a lot of credit. Another player gets hurt and we just used players in different positions and found a way to win.” he insists. “So that’s what it’s going to be about for us right now: finding a way to win. The guys did the right thing, and we have to be very proud of this group, especially after a really shocking injury the other night in Miami and we’ve been tossing around – basketball-wise – and still finding a way to win.”