It turns out that the Denver Nuggets didn’t need their stars on Monday night.
The Nuggets, who sat Nikola Jokić, Jamal Murray and Christian Braun due to various injuries, still beat the Golden State Warriors 114-105 at the Chase Center on Monday in their primetime matchup behind a 38-point night from Aaron Gordon.
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Jokić was held out with a right elbow contusion and left ankle impingement. Murray missed the game with left knee inflammation and Braun was held out with left foot inflammation. That left the Nuggets without three key starters, and their MVP-candidate leader. Jokić appeared to initially injure his elbow in a March 9 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder.
He wrapped his elbow on the sideline after a fall. He finished the game and was seen with ice on his elbow postgame. He’d played in each of Denver’s three games since.
Murray appeared to tweak his ankle late in Saturday’s loss to the Washington Wizards.
Jokić and Murray were both initially listed as questionable for Monday’s game prior to being downgraded to out. Braun was listed as probable before being downgraded to questionable, and then out.
Christian Braun, Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokić sat out Monday’s win over the Warriors. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post)
The NBA has been active in investigating potential violations of its player participation policy and recently fined the Utah Jazz $100,000 for sidelining former All-Star Lauri Markkanen for multiple games without an approved reason. But the Jazz are in competition for the worst record in the league and the No. 1 pick in a highly anticipated NBA Draft.
The NBA implemented rules in 2023 targeting the load management practice of resting star players when they’re not injured. Teams are subject to fines for various violations of the policy that include prohibiting teams from sitting multiple star players in the same game when they’re not injured and resting star players during nationally televised games.
Despite losing their stars, the Nuggets still led nearly the entire way in San Francisco. They jumped out to a seven-point lead after the opening period, and then they fended off a late push by the Warriors down the stretch to sneak out with the nine-point win.
Gordon shot 14-of-23 from the field and had six rebounds to go with his 38 points in the win for Denver, which is battling for the No. 2 seed in a competitive Western Conference. Michael Porter Jr. added 21 points and 10 rebounds, and Russell Westbrook finished with 12 points and 16 assists. The Nuggets now hold a 44-25 record, which is in line with the Houston Rockets for second in the conference.
Jimmy Butler led the Warriors with 23 points, eight rebounds and six assists in the loss. Stephen Curry added 20 points and shot just 4-of-14 from behind the arc. Gary Payton II put up 18 points off the bench, too.
The Nuggets will be back in action against the Los Angeles Lakers next on Wednesday night, which is another critical battle in the playoff race. It’s unclear if their stars will be back for that matchup.
