The Denver Nuggets have been going through a series of unfortunate events, as the injury bug has been feverishly biting recently.
It all started when Nuggets cornerstone Nikola Jokic went down with injury last Thursday. Since then, just about nothing has gone right for the Nuggets.
They have now dropped two of their last three games, sustaining injuries to numerous players on the roster along the way.
Will Barton underwent an MRI on an undisclosed ankle injury, and now Danilo Gallinari will undergo the same scan for his groin. These are just a couple of the injuries the Nuggets are dealing with.
Emmanuel Mudiay is on a minute restriction following his return from a back injury, Gary Harris is still just a few games removed from returning from an ankle ailment, Darrell Arthur has been battling a knee injury all season long, and Kenneth Faried and Wilson Chandler have been dealing with minor injuries for a couple weeks now.
All of this makes for big obstacles for head coach Michael Malone, obstacles that he knows will be difficult to overcome.
“These are the dog days, man.” Coach Malone said. “We are already thin because of injuries … I have more minute restrictions then probably any coach in the NBA … That is where where we are. That is the way we have to go right now.
“You got eight more games before the All-Star break. We are trying to get through that in one piece if we can. You got Will Barton out, Nikola Jokic out, Gallo out, and we are hoping we can get all of those guys back sooner rather than later.”
Jokic and Barton are day-to-day while Faried and Chandler continue to play through injury. Gallo’s status is up in the air as the Nuggets challenges only get more difficult moving froward. They have games against the San Antonio Spurs, Milwaukee Bucks, Atlanta Hawks, Cleveland Cavaliers, and Golden State Warriors before the All-Star break.
The Nuggets are just one loss behind the Portland Trail Blazers for the 8th seed in the Western Conference, and are now being forced to deal with injuries to some of their best players on roster. Challenges are ahead for the Nuggets, but only time will tell to see just how durable this playoff-hunting team is.
