Roughly paraphrased, one of the commonly accepted NBA axioms is this: An elite team can withstand the loss of its best player during the regular season for two or three games, but it’s big trouble if that superstar misses a long stretch.
The Denver Nuggets are about to find out what happens without one of the NBA’s elite role players. Forward Aaron Gordon is out with a right hamstring strain and will be re-evaluated in four to six weeks, the team announced Sunday.
Gordon was injured in Friday’s 112-109 NBA Cup win over the Houston Rockets. He played fewer than four minutes before subbing out and missed Denver’s 128-123 loss to Sacramento on Saturday.
Gordon, a 30-year-old forward, has blossomed in Denver as a reliable 3-point shooter and one of the league’s best and most versatile defenders. He is one of the few players who can guard any opponent — tiny point guard or bulky center.
To put it simply: He might be the best 3-and-D player in the league.
Gordon complements perennial MVP candidate Nikola Jokić and point guard Jamal Murray perfectly, giving them a perfect target for passes when he slashes to the basket or spots up for a 3 on the perimeter.
He’s Denver’s third-leading scorer this season (18.8 points per game) and leads in 3-point percentage (44 percent) among regular rotation players. He’s also an above-average rebounder whose 5.9 rpg would be higher if Jokić weren’t one of the sport’s best defensive rebounders.
Denver entered Sunday with a 12-4 record, second in the Western Conference, trailing only Oklahoma City (16-1).
Jokić and Murray are healthy and can accept more responsibility to score. Jokić is playing at his typical MVP level, averaging a triple-double of 30.4 points, 13.0 rebounds and 10.8 assists. The Nuggets also added Cam Johnson and Bruce Brown during the offseason for depth.
Braun also injured
But here’s more bad news: Starting two-guard Christian Braun has a significant left ankle sprain (suffered Nov. 12) and will be re-evaluated in 4 1/2 weeks.
It would be easier to withstand Braun’s absence if Gordon were healthy and vice versa. But with both out a month, a group that includes Johnson, Brown, Tim Hardaway Jr., Peyton Watson, Julian Strawther and Spencer Jones will need to be solid, at a minimum.
But none of them has Gordon’s defense. When he entered the league in 2014 as the No. 4 pick by the Orlando Magic, he stated bluntly he wanted to win a Defensive Player of the Year award. He hasn’t yet, and hasn’t even been named to an NBA All-Defensive team.
And he probably won’t make the team this season, either. His injury almost certainly will prevent him from reaching the 65-games-played threshold to qualify.
Gordon missed 31 games last season — 27 with a right calf strain and right calf injury management, three with a left ankle sprain and one with illness. The Nuggets were 33-18 in games he played and 17-14 mark in games he missed. So, don’t underestimate Gordon’s defensive impact, particularly because Jokić is not a dynamic rim protector.
The broader worry is whether Gordon’s and Braun’s absence will drop the team far enough down the standings to jeopardize home-court advantage in a first-round playoff series and maybe a second-round series. Having home court is a big edge for the Nuggets, given Denver’s high altitude.
On Oct. 23, Gordon scored a career-high 50 points — with 10 made 3-pointers on 11 attempts — in a 137-131 overtime loss to the Golden State Warriors.