Denver Nuggets forward Aaron Gordon will miss at least the next month after being diagnosed with a Grade 2 strain in his right hamstring, per a report from ESPN’s Shams Charania. The injury occurred early in Friday’s road win over the Houston Rockets, and an MRI on Saturday confirmed the severity. The team expects to re-evaluate him in approximately four to six weeks.
Gordon, 30, had already been managing hamstring issues and played only a few minutes Friday before exiting. He also sat out two of Denver’s previous three games and did not suit up for Saturday’s loss to the Sacramento Kings. The setback is another blow for a short-handed Nuggets roster, which recently lost fellow starter Christian Braun to a left ankle sprain that will keep him out at least six weeks.
The forward was off to the most productive start of his career, averaging 18.8 points per game while shooting a career-best 44.4% from beyond the arc. He opened the season with a 50-point performance against Golden State and is one of seven players currently averaging at least 15 points on 50-40-85 shooting splits. Gordon also played through a left hamstring strain during last season’s Game 7 loss to Oklahoma City in the Western Conference semifinals.
Denver, who are second in the Western Conference behind the Thunder, will now lean on its expanded depth: Peyton Watson, Cameron Johnson and newly added veterans such as Bruce Brown, Tim Hardaway Jr. and Jonas Valančiūnas.
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