Even as the Denver Nuggets fell to the Oklahoma City Thunder in a Game 7 conference semifinals blowout, Nuggets forward Aaron Gordon was willing to put his body on the line.
Gordon played through a Grade 2 hamstring strain in the 125-93 loss and started the game despite being initially listed as doubtful to play. The 29-year-old forward said postgame he knew the risks of playing through the pain and was willing to accept them.
When asked whether he would have been able to keep playing had the Nuggets won and advanced, Gordon said he likely would have had to sit out two or three games as a result of powering through on Sunday.
“That was probably it. At least for two or three games, into the next round. So I was saying, maybe I can get through this one and then rest a little bit, come back later in the next series,” Gordon said.
That, he said, was a risk he was willing to take in order to get Denver through to the conference finals.
“I knew the risks, but I wanted to be out there for my team,” Gordon said. “I gave it my all.”
Gordon said there was “never any doubt” he would play, despite his injury, but the MRI indicated “something worse than what I was feeling.” As a result, he said, he spent the past few days trying various treatments to get himself ready for game time.
“Everything that I could possibly do: hot, cold, contrast, massage, hyperbaric, everything that I could possibly do, just so I could be out there and fight for my team,” Gordon said.
Gordon said he didn’t feel the injury much during the game, but later admitted he couldn’t sprint at all. He finished with eight points and 11 rebounds.
“Just wish I would’ve played better,” Gordon added.
Nuggets interim head coach David Adelman seemed to disagree, praising Gordon’s commitment in his postgame news conference.
“Aaron Gordon is incredible,” Adelman said, noting the intense circumstances that Gordon persevered through. “That was one of the most incredible things I’ve ever seen. … It’s just a testament to his toughness.”
Gordon noted part of the reason behind his hamstring injury is the NBA’s busy postseason schedule. Teams often get only one day in between playoff games; if the Nuggets had won, the next series would have tipped off Tuesday with only one day off.
“A travel day and a recovery day, just two days, I think the product of the game would be a lot better,” Gordon said. “Just to give all these professional athletes just one more day of rest, and you would see a higher level of basketball. Probably less blowouts.”
Gordon noted the number of injuries to high-profile players during the playoffs, mentioning Stephen Curry’s hamstring injury, which kept him out of the Warriors’ final four games, plus the season-ending Achilles injuries to Damian Lillard and Jayson Tatum. Similarly, Tatum’s teammate, Jaylen Brown, has reportedly been playing on a partially torn meniscus for the past few months.
“You saw it around the league,” Gordon said. “There’s guys all around the league that are suffering fatigue-based injuries because the games are so closely stacked together.
“It would just be nice for one or two more rest days throughout the postseason, just so we can come back fresh and compete,” he added, “’cause a lot of the time, it’s the team that’s most healthy. It’s not even the best team, it’s the team that’s most healthy.”
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