11:17 am: The Nuggets put out a press release (via Twitter) which confirms Charania’s report.
10:57 am: Nuggets forward Aaron Gordon has been diagnosed with a Grade 2 right hamstring strain and will be reevaluated in four-to-six weeks, reports Shams Charania of ESPN.
Denver will be down two members of its starting lineup for the next several weeks, as guard Christian Braun is expected to be out for at least another month due to a sprained left ankle.
Gordon missed Wednesday’s win over New Orleans with bilateral hamstring injury management before returning to action on Friday at Houston. He was initially listed as probable for the game against the Rockets before being upgraded to available.
Unfortunately, three minutes into the game, he injured his right hamstring.
As Charania notes, Gordon suffered a Grade 2 left hamstring strain during Denver’s second-round playoff series against Oklahoma City. He played through the injury in Game 7, and has now injured his opposite hamstring.
Gordon, who missed extended time last season due to a calf strain, had gotten off to an excellent start this fall. Through 12 healthy games (30.4 minutes per contest), he was averaging 20.3 points and 6.3 rebounds on elite efficiency (.536/.452/.879 shooting splits) while playing strong defense.
Denver is plus-20.7 per 100 possessions when the 30-year-old is on the court — a fantastic number — and plays exactly even with the opposing team when he’s not.
Head coach David Adelman said Gordon was seeking second opinions on his injured right hamstring after Saturday’s loss to Sacramento, writes Bennett Durando of The Denver Post. Second-year forward Spencer Jones, who is on a two-way deal, started in Gordon’s place against the Kings, but struggled slowing down DeMar DeRozan late in the fourth quarter.
According to Durando, the Nuggets could use more double-big lineups featuring Nikola Jokic and Jonas Valanciunas with Gordon out. The two centers haven’t shared the court much yet in their first season together, and the results have been mixed in a small sample size.
“We are trying to figure it out,” Jokic said. “Sometimes it’s good. Sometimes it’s really bad. I think we need to have more minutes to be there and to play in different positions, different type of players who we’re guarding. But I think we communicate on the floor.”