Gordon, the Watson injury that Adelman teased is back
The Denver Nuggets have remained at the top of the Western Conference despite dealing with a string of injuries over the past month. They were 4-6 in their last ten road games Aaron Gordon and a breakthrough wing Peyton Watson, who were both suffering from hamstring injuries.
Amidst that, head coach David Adelman injected some optimism, saying he expects the entire group to be in shape with plenty of regular season games to go.
“Hopefully we can get the whole group back with 20 games to go,” he said according to the post on X by The Denver Post’s Bennett Durand.
Gordon, who hasn’t suited up since re-aggravating his hamstring on Jan. 23 against Milwaukee, finally resumed situational defensive drills at game speed. Meanwhile, Watson has been sidelined since a tough doubleheader loss to the New York Knicks on Feb. 4.
However, the coaching staff is targeting the return of the entire core with about 20 games remaining in the regular season. That’s extremely optimistic considering Denver only has 24 games remaining.
Before a strained left hamstring halted his swing, Watson was doing a monstrous stretch. From the start of the calendar year until his injury on February 4th, the 22-year-old averaged 21.4 points, 5.3 rebounds, 1.6 blocks and 1.1 steals while shooting a blistering 45.7% from three-point range.
The urgency to get Gordon and Watson back on the court is heightened by the fact that Nikola Jokic recently suffered a hand injury. Jokic carries an unfathomable statistical load, averaging 28.8 points, 12.5 rebounds and 10.5 assists, while shooting 58% from the floor and 42% from deep.
However, that hasn’t stopped the Nuggets from dropping games, further highlighting the importance of the absence. Gordon, in particular, isn’t just an important two-way presence on the roster. He also has the ability to be good at the business end of the season, and Denver would prefer to have him fully fit and firing.
2026-02-25 16:56:00
