The Denver Nuggets are, to use a clinical phrase, going through it right now.
In November, the team lost starting guard Christian Braun to an ankle strain, then starting forward Aaron Gordon to a hamstring strain. Last week, starting forward Cam Johnson joined them on the shelf due to a bone bruise in his knee.
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Then MVP front-runner Nikola Jokić sustained a hyperextended knee that will keep him out for at least four weeks. Oh, and the team’s only remaining starter, Jamal Murray, is currently dealing with a sprained right ankle, but he remains probable for Friday’s game against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Somehow, the situation just got even worse.
Jokić’s backup, Jonas Valančiūnas, has been ruled out for at least four weeks due to a right calf strain, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania.
That’s the backup the Nuggets least want to lose. Valančiūnas is the fifth-highest paid player on the team after joining Denver in the offseason via a trade with the Sacramento Kings.
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Any game plan with Jokić out was likely to involve abundant minutes for the Lithuanian, as rookie DaRon Holmes and Zeke Nnaji are the only players left on the roster who resemble a center.
In the Nuggets’ first full game without Jokić, Valančiūnas posted a season-high 17 points on 5-of-6 shooting, plus 9 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 blocks, in a 106-103 win over the Toronto Raptors. It was in that game that he sustained the calf strain after 23 minutes of play.
The good news for Denver is that while both of its rotation centers are out, head coach David Adelman said last weekend that Gordon and Braun could both return during the team’s current seven-game road trip, which runs through next Wednesday. The coming weeks are still likely to be a challenge for a team currently third in the West with a 23-10 record.
