In all likelihood, Aaron Gordon and Christian Braun will be ornaments on the home team’s bench this Christmas.
Nuggets coach David Adelman doesn’t expect Gordon or Braun to be back from their respective injuries by the time Denver hosts Minnesota for a Christmas nightcap. The Nuggets (17-6) have played their last eight games without their starting two-guard and power forward, both of whom are in the midst of multi-week recoveries — Gordon from a right hamstring strain, Braun from a sprained left ankle.
“Aaron and Christian, it’s a slow process,” Adelman said. “I would imagine they celebrate the holiday without playing. But we’ll see.”
The Nuggets and Timberwolves will compete in the finale of a traditional five-game slate on Christmas. They’ll tip off at 8:30 p.m. (ABC/ESPN) at Ball Arena. It’s the fourth consecutive year Denver has been tapped to play on the holiday, a marquee day on the NBA’s regular-season calendar.
Then on Dec. 26, the Nuggets will fly to Orlando to begin a seven-game road trip, their longest in four years. Adelman hinted that while Gordon and Braun probably won’t play against Minnesota, “maybe on that trip, we get them back; maybe (we) don’t.”
Braun was ruled out for at least six weeks on Nov. 14, putting him on schedule to be reevaluated for a potential return right around Christmas. He joined the team on the road last week and did individual workouts with Denver’s staff.
Gordon’s injury is not as isolated as Braun’s. The 30-year-old has a recent history of soft tissue injuries in his calves and hamstrings, including a strained left hamstring that he tried to play through in Game 7 of a playoff series in May. His current strain is in the other leg. He was given a reevaluation timeline of four to six weeks on Nov. 23, leaving his possible return date more open-ended.
“They both seem good,” Adelman said. “Christian is in a good spot. He’s moving around more. And Aaron is working his way through it. Aaron’s injury is one of those (with) kind of a tedious build-up. You have to be careful with what could happen to the same injury, not to mention other things. Excited to get both guys back. In the meantime, we have to hold it down for those guys.”
Braun was already sidelined when Gordon’s hamstring discomfort started to flare up. He missed a game in New Orleans for precautionary reasons, then tried to play two days later in Houston, only to suffer the full Grade 2 strain and leave the court four minutes into the game.
Counting those two nights, the Nuggets have essentially played their last 10 games without Gordon and Braun. They are 7-3 in that stretch with the second-best offense in the league (126.5 points per 100 possessions), the third-worst defense (121.7) and the eighth-best net rating (4.8). Peyton Watson and Spencer Jones have filled in as starters.
Gordon’s injury, in particular, derailed one of the best individual starts to a season of his career. He’s averaging 18.8 points and 5.9 rebounds while shooting 53% from the field and 44% from three. Braun’s efficiency as a scorer has worsened from last year, but he’s still giving Denver 11.4 points, 4.4 boards and three assists per game.
Offense aside, Gordon and Braun are the two best defenders in Denver’s starting lineup. Their absences have been especially costly when the Nuggets have struggled to get stops during a peculiar four-game home losing streak. Even more bizarre, though, is that it has coincided with a 10-game road winning streak that Denver will look to extend Thursday in Sacramento.
“We’ve kind of been in this zone of hotel rooms and playing in random cities and then getting on the plane. But there is a rhythm to that, too,” Adelman said. “You kind of find this rhythm to the locker rooms and being together. …When we’re at home, it’s very different. You kind of control your own time here, as opposed to on the road, where it’s all kind of dictated to you.
“So yeah, for whatever reason, when we’ve been here, it hasn’t gone great.”
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