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 disclosed 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 insufficient 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 doable 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 crew s walk-through Saturday at Ball Arena It was fewer than hours after he reached for his left hamstring late in Challenge of the second-round playoff series Instantly hobbled after a loose-ball sequence he was removed from the encounter 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 battle plan Both sides of the ball interim coach David Adelman noted 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 exposure 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 requested about that component of the hamstring injury Adelman acknowledged that Gordon s willingness to hazard 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 club medicinal staff will do whatever they have to do for the safety of a person But yeah I don t know Adelman declared I m sure the hoops to jump through in order to play are presumably smaller because the encounter s coming so speedily It s not a thing where he has three weeks to go through it So it ll presumably be his comfortability along with the clinical 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 Match 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 company as the greatest shooter of all time but the Nuggets do-it-all power forward has also been their most of reliable clutch shot-maker of these playoffs In Championship of their first-round series against the Clippers Gordon scored the first game-winning buzzer-beating dunk in NBA postseason history In Championship against the Thunder he sank a transition -pointer with seconds remaining to hand Denver a - win In Competition 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 commented That s what I appreciate largest 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 tournament 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 Selected other guys took Gordon s ball-handling responsibilities in matter he s out Adelman revealed 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 this day with different people But like I commented 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 exceptional battle 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 Battle 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 Event How to watch and keys to winner-take-all event in OKC Julian Strawther thought he was out of Nuggets playoff rotation Now he s an elimination match star I don t think much changes at all I just think the amount of time that I m out there is more Watson announced Saturday of the likely 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 competition Me and AG are special for different reasons AG is obviously one of our the greater part 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 announced 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 noted 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