The Denver Nuggets have the edge over the Oklahoma City Thunder in their series as things stand. It wasn’t easy, though. The Thunder took them to overtime tonight. And if it weren’t for Aaron Gordon and Michael Porter Jr. stepping up, putting 22 and 21 points on the board. But like Kobe once said, “Job’s not over.”
Getting rid of this year’s top-seed in the West will not be easy. The Nuggets will need to beat them 2 more times to bounce the Thunder from the Playoffs. But after a 7-game series against the Clippers and a tough OT game in their last outing, has fatigue finally caught up to them? Let’s find out by looking at their injury report.
Denver Nuggets Injury Report – Will Michael Porter Jr. and Aaron Gordon play tonight?
During this postseason, Aaron Gordon has stepped up like no other on the Nuggets roster. He threw down an impeccably timed buzzer-beating dunk to win Game 4 against the Clippers. And so far, he’s averaging 18.6 points in the postseason, his highest tally ever, but that’s subject to change. On the flip side, Michael Porter Jr. had been having a quiet series against the Thunder. But when the Nuggets needed him in the last game, boy, did he deliver! He scored 21 points off 70% shooting, going 83% from beyond the arc.
Jan 1, 2025; Denver, Colorado, USA; Denver Nuggets forward Michael Porter Jr. (1) finishes off a basket in the second quarter against the Atlanta Hawks at Ball Arena. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images
And all this is why if you’re a Nuggets fan, you’ll be glad to know that neither of them are on the Nuggets’ latest injury report ahead of Game 4. So, Aaron Gordon and Michael Porter Jr. are both AVAILABLE for the upcoming Thunder game.
But not all the players in Denver are healthy right now. DaRon Holmes II is still recovering from having his Achilles tendon surgically repaired. He rejoined team practice back in February. But the recovery from this surgery doesn’t entail a couple of PT sessions and a spa day. Regardless, he’s the only Nuggets player on the injury report.
With all the key rotation players healthy, the Nuggets are in a great position heading into this game. But they still need to address some of the problems the Thunder gave in the first 3 games in this series.
The Nuggets need to figure out OKC’s defense
Oklahoma City threw everything at Nikola Jokic, clogging the paint and daring him to shoot from deep. The 3x MVP was forced to admit, “I don’t know what they are doing… So I need to figure out what they’re doing.” It’s wild to see his wizardry falter. Then again, he is facing the winningest team in the NBA this season.
If not for Aaron Gordon and Michael Porter Jr. coming up clutch, this would be a very different series right now. So these two will need to make sure that they’re on their A-game tonight. And the Joker? He needs to work with Adelman to make sure they’ve got a way to bypass the Thunder’s defence tonight. Perhaps they could push everyone (Jokic too) to the 3-point line and run screens without the ball.
Gordon and Porter could get open looks this way. Or they can bait the Thunder and switch with Jokic driving downhill. But then again, if we’ve thought of that, the Nuggets have as well.
So we’ll find out how the leaves fall only when Game 4 tips off. But rest assured, this game 4 is about to be a barnburner!!
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