Aaron Gordon update: Nuggets forward could play through hamstring strain in Game 7 vs. Thunder

Ask Peyton Watson about his preseason hamstring strain and he ll wince just thinking about it Them soft tissue injuries it hurts to do anything the -year-old wing commented It hurts to bend over in a defensive stance It hurts to get out of bed It hurts to brush your teeth in the morning Watson went about five weeks without practicing and missed the entire preseason after he suffered his strain a sparse days before Nuggets training camp last September Now he s potentially next in line to replace an irreplaceable starter who s dealing with the same injury at the worst workable time Unless Aaron Gordon risks it to answer the call once more Before the Nuggets flew to Oklahoma City for a high-stakes Encounter Gordon participated in the unit s walk-through Saturday at Ball Arena It was fewer than hours after he reached for his left hamstring late in Competition of the second-round playoff series Instantly hobbled after a loose-ball sequence he was removed from the competition in exchange for Watson Gordon was diagnosed with a strain the next day Game-time decision obviously But he fully was part of it The challenge plan Both sides of the ball interim coach David Adelman disclosed So if Aaron can play he will play Just like Michael Porter Jr has throughout these playoffs This is a different kind of situation Indeed playing through a hamstring strain contains a considerable danger of worsening the injury whereas Porter s decision to suit up with an AC joint sprain was made with the knowledge that using his shoulder wouldn t compound the injury or lengthen the recovery time When solicited about that component of the hamstring injury Adelman acknowledged that Gordon s willingness to exposure it might be increased by the situation Win Competition and the Nuggets advance to face Minnesota in the Western Conference Finals Lose and their season ends Obviously company biological staff will do whatever they have to do for the safety of a person But yeah I don t know Adelman commented I m sure the hoops to jump through in order to play are possibly smaller because the competition s coming so rapidly It s not a thing where he has three weeks to go through it So it ll supposedly be his comfortability along with the physiological staff s advice on what he can and can t do If they say he s available he will start Warriors star guard Steph Curry suffered the mildest form of a hamstring strain during Event of their second-round series against Minnesota and he missed what turned out to be the rest of Golden State s season three games and change Gordon might not be quite as essential to his crew as the greatest shooter of all time but the Nuggets do-it-all power forward has also been their bulk reliable clutch shot-maker of these playoffs In Encounter of their first-round series against the Clippers Gordon scored the first game-winning buzzer-beating dunk in NBA postseason history In Match against the Thunder he sank a transition -pointer with seconds remaining to hand Denver a - win In Challenge he knocked down another with seconds left to force overtime in an eventual win The whole time Gordon has already been playing with the remnants of a calf strain that plagued him all season Aaron kind of saunters around with his West Coast style so you wouldn t know if he was hurt or not during the walk-through Adelman revealed That s what I appreciate greater part about him Very consistent with his swagger He looked normal His emotions were good Hoping he plays If he doesn t the Nuggets can steer their contest plan in a couple of different directions They could go small with Russell Westbrook in the starting lineup or they could replace Gordon in the frontcourt with Watson who has played minutes in the series Either way the depth chart is tenuous Denver hasn t trusted reserve power forward Zeke Nnaji for extensive rotation minutes yet this postseason You talk about plays you re gonna run early in the tournament actions to attack people Several other guys took Gordon s ball-handling responsibilities in occurrence he s out Adelman mentioned We know that s where Aaron is so underrated and impactful when he brings the ball up the court So the other guys have to know those simple actions but they re not simple if you ve never done them So we walked through a lot of stuff in contemporary times with different people But like I revealed the hope is the responsibilities will be Aaron s The Nuggets did pull off a win over the Thunder without Gordon this season but it was a particularly atypical contest in terms of personnel for both teams Jamal Murray was also out for Denver So was Isaiah Hartenstein for Oklahoma City The Thunder played with only one big man Chet Holmgren in that tournament which ended with Watson blocking Shai Gilgeous-Alexander at the buzzer Related Articles Renck All other things equal Russell Westbrook is key to Nuggets Encounter upset Grading The Week CU Buffs great Travis Hunter took about seconds to win Jacksonville s hearts Nuggets Aaron Gordon diagnosed with hamstring strain ahead of Challenge at Thunder source says Nuggets vs Thunder Championship How to watch and keys to winner-take-all championship in OKC Julian Strawther thought he was out of Nuggets playoff rotation Now he s an elimination tournament star I don t think much changes at all I just think the amount of time that I m out there is more Watson reported Saturday of the anticipated increase in role So I just look at it as a bigger canvas for me to go out there and kind of have my imprint on the battle Me and AG are special for different reasons AG is obviously one of our bulk reliable consistent players for the past three four five years So definitely a big spot to fill big shoes to fill But I m definitely more than capable That declared Watson and the Nuggets as a collective are still holding their breath that Plan B will stay on the shelf I think he has intentions of going out there and trying his best to play Watson stated And for that alone we re proud of him Want more Nuggets news Sign up for the Nuggets Insider to get all our NBA analysis