Aaron Gordon, Christian Braun return to a Nuggets team needing healthy bodies after Jokic’s loss

NEW YORK (AP) — Aaron Gordon and Christian Braun returned from lengthy injury absences Sunday in Brooklyn, bringing good news to a Denver team desperate for healthy bodies after the loss of Nikola Jokic.

Coach David Adelman said both players showed improvements in recent days and they were cleared to play after testing themselves during warmups.

“We’ve had a good 48 hours, those two guys. Thank God,” Adelman said before the game. “So we could use the bodies.”

Gordon came off the bench and scored 20 points in the Nuggets’ 127-115 loss. Braun started and had three points.

“It’s good to see guys back,” said Jamal Murray, who had 27 points and a career-high 16 assists.

Gordon missed 19 games with a strained right hamstring. The starting forward hadn’t played since a brief appearance on Nov. 21.

Braun started the first 11 games of the season before spraining his left ankle and missing 23 games. He hasn’t played since Nov. 12.

Braun played 24 minutes and Gordon 21. But the Nuggets were glad to take whatever they could get after a nightmarish injury stretch that included losing Jokic, the three-time NBA MVP, and Jonas Valanciunas, his backup.

Jokic hyperextended his left knee on Monday in Miami and will miss at least four weeks before he is evaluated again. Valanciunas strained his right calf in his first start after that and also could miss a month.

The Nuggets won in Toronto in their first game without Jokic, and Adelman was encouraged by their effort in a loss in Cleveland on Friday.

“But we were right there and that’s the whole point of this, is just try to get through this month, win enough games that you wake up in February and go, ‘Hey, we’re still in the top six or whatever it may be,’” Adelman said.

“So it’s just survival mode and this group as a bunch of veteran guys understand that. They understand what it means to just find a way to win a few games a week and just go from there.”

For the Nets, Michael Porter Jr. returned from a two-game illness absence to score 27 points against the team he helped lead to the 2023 NBA championship before he was traded to Brooklyn for Cam Johnson last summer. Johnson is still sidelined with a right knee injury.

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AP NBA: https://www.apnews.com/hub/NBA