The Denver Nuggets are down 2-1 in their first-round playoff series against the Los Angeles Clippers. While their season is on the line, there’s another topic of concern for the Nuggets. Most of the important players for the team have been dealing with injuries. ESPN’s Marc Spears brought up the topic of Denver’s squad and the concern for their future.
The playoffs have always been physically straining. With the intense battle on the court, players’ bodies are often put under a lot of pressure. In Game 2, the Nuggets experienced that as they had a heartbreaking 117-83 loss at the Intuit Dome.
Ahead of Game 4, there’s a certain worry for the 2023 champions.
Spears opened about how the injuries could affect the team’s will to fight for their season.
“I’m worried about this team,” Spears said. “Let’s see if they have the heart of the champion. They’ve got some injuries.
The insider broke down the list of players affected by the injury bug, most of whom are integral to the roster.
“MPJ, I don’t know… he may not play Saturday. Jamal’s [Murray] hurting, Russ [Westbrook] is hurting, Aaron [Gordon] told me he can barely jump right now. How much heart do you have left after everything just happened the last couple of weeks. Cancun sounds cool right now.
.@MarcJSpears is worried about the Nuggets after losing Game 3 to the Clippers.
"[Michael Porter Jr.] may not play Saturday, [Jamal Murray's] hurting, [Russell Westbrook] is hurting, Aaron [Gordon] told me he can barely jump right now." 😳 pic.twitter.com/GKlP7jtAcz
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) April 25, 2025
“Let’s see if they prefer vacation or trying to fight back into Mile High.”
On Saturday, the Nuggets will play their fourth game of the best-of-seven first-round series at the Clippers’ arena.
The Denver Nuggets had a “productive” film session
After the abysmal loss, the Denver Nuggets immediately wanted to fix how they played. According to Brendan Vogt of the DNVR Nuggets, the team had a film session on Friday, head coach David Adelman confirmed.
“It was a productive film session with some productive conversations. First and foremost, guys owned the lack of physicality,” Adelman said via Brendan Vogt.
Vogt reported that Adelman demands that the team communicate with each other a lot. The reporter asked the head coach if that could create tension in the locker room. However, Michael Malone’s replacement doesn’t mind the tension and just wants the team to perform at their best.
“I don’t mind the tension. Guys shouldn’t be giving each other a hug after that game. Yeah, there’s tension, guys are going at it a little bit. But through that, there could be some really good conversations and there were today in the film session.”
"I don't mind the tension. Guys shouldn't be giving each other a hug after that game." – David Adelman@BrendanVogt reports on the tensions in Denver's locker room and the state of the Nuggets ahead of Game 4 pic.twitter.com/BIxYEJR6Sv
— DNVR Nuggets (@DNVR_Nuggets) April 25, 2025
Adelman also talked about some injury concerns. When asked about Michael Porter Jr., the head coach said that if Porter is healthy, he will play.
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Reign also writes NBA and WNBA news updates on Sportskeeda. He started as a feature writer for AirAlamo, an NBA website that covers the San Antonio Spurs. Some of his work can also be seen on Valley of the Suns, a Phoenix Suns-centric website, where he served as a contributing writer.
