After grabbing the back of his leg in the fourth quarter vs the New York Knicks on Wednesday night, the Nuggets received poor injury news regarding Peyton Watson.
According to multiple reports, Watson sustained a left hamstring strain that is significant enough to hold out the breakout star wing for at least four weeks. Now, the Nuggets are reporting it was a right hamstring strain, and I believe Watson was grabbing the right leg when he went down.
Tony Jones of The Athletic first reported that Watson sustained a Grade 2 hamstring strain last night and that Watson would miss significant time.
BREAKING: Denver Nuggets forward Peyton Watson has suffered a grade 2 left hamstring strain and is expected to miss extended time, League Sources tell The Athletic. Watson had been a breakout star for the Nuggets. This adds to their injury misfortune
— Tony Jones (@Tjonesonthenba) February 6, 2026
That report was later confirmed by Michael Scotto of Hoops Hype, who added the timeline of “re-evaluated in four weeks” for a more specific outline of Watson’s injury timetable.
Breaking: Denver Nuggets forward Peyton Watson will be re-evaluated in 4 weeks with a left hamstring strain, league sources told @hoopshype. Watson is in the midst of a breakout season, averaging 14.9 points (50% FG, 42% 3PT), 4.9 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 1.2 blocks, and 1.0 steals pic.twitter.com/iawcdXIBnc
— Michael Scotto (@MikeAScotto) February 6, 2026
Watson, as noted in Scotto’s tweet, has had a serious breakout season for the Nuggets, maintaining career highs in minutes, points, rebounds, assists, and steals while averaging impressive efficiency on tougher shots throughout the year. Since Nikola Jokic sustained an injury on December 29th, Watson filled in the missed shot creation and production by averaging 21.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 2.7 assists while shooting 48.5% from the field and 43.7% from three.
Watson’s confidence was peaking heading into the All-Star break, but so was his burden from a minutes perspective, averaging 36.1 minutes per game during that aforementioned 19-game stretch. An injury became more likely, and the Nuggets will pay the cost.
Now, Watson joins Aaron Gordon (twice), Christian Braun (twice and then some), Cam Johnson, Nikola Jokic, and Jonas Valanciunas among Nuggets players to miss at least three weeks in a row. It’s been a horrible season of injury luck for the Nuggets, who have championship aspirations but have seen their original starting lineup play just 10 total games out of 52 all season. That starting group of Murray, Braun, Johnson, Gordon, and Jokic is also Denver’s second most played lineup from a minutes perspective, highlighting just how little continuity the Nuggets have had throughout the year.
How will Denver survive without Watson? Well, they better convert Spencer Jones officially before their next game on Saturday vs the Chicago Bulls. With Hunter Tyson traded and the three of Gordon, Watson, and Johnson expected to miss due to injury (Johnson may come back, the Nuggets need at least ONE forward healthy; however, Jones was in concussion protocol following the Knicks game due to a head butt from Karl-Anthony Towns, so who knows if he will be ready to go.
The Nuggets desperately need the All-Star break. They have three more games to go. They will find a way to survive, but it’s going to take a big effort from Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, and especially Christian Braun as he returns from his own prolonged injury.