Nuggets are getting great news and a massive boost, but that doesn’t mean they’re winning

The Nuggets benefited from a favorable schedule last week as they had three consecutive days off between games. This is somewhat of a rarity in the hustle and bustle of a regular season, but it is very much welcomed.

After winning 122-103 at Utah on Wednesday night, the team enjoyed a break for Thanksgiving. They went into their short vacation break feeling pretty good, without having to speak again until Sunday.

The Nuggets received some great news, seemingly out of nowhere, when it was announced on Sunday morning that star forward Aaron Gordon had been upgraded from OUT to Doubtful. Gordon suffered a calf injury early in the team’s game against the Raptors on November 4 and has been sidelined since.

Michael Malone recently gave a concerning update that Gordon had no timetable for his return, leading some to believe that Gordon may have suffered a setback. Calf strains – and calf injuries in general – can be very difficult and easy to persist or re-aggravate. It was clear that the Nuggets were very cautious with their veteran forward, and for good reason.

So it was good news to discover just a few days later that Gordon was almost ready for action. As the day went on, things improved even more. He was upgraded again in the afternoon, from Doubtful to Questionable, and after completing warm-ups he was deemed ready to play.

Gordon didn’t start the game, but looked solid in the 23 minutes off the bench, scoring 10 points on 4/7 shooting and, more importantly, helping to bolster the backup center position. In years past, this has been a move that Malone has mostly saved for the playoffs, but with Nikola Jokic sitting in the frontcourt, things are only going to get worse, and Gordon’s services will be desperately needed to fill that void.

Even though Gordon isn’t quite 100% and isn’t playing at the right position, he’s a huge improvement over the corpses of Dario Saric and DeAndre Jordan – who the Nuggets had been playing with for a long time. They’ve tried small balls with Peyton Watson and/or Michael Porter Jr. in the middle, but it works much better with Aaron Gordon; His return is a very welcome sight for Nuggets fans.

Unfortunately, his return wasn’t enough to put the Nuggets in the win column. On Sunday night they gave the Clippers a tough loss on the road, 126-122. The loss dropped Denver to 10-8 on the season, good for 9th place in the loaded Western Conference.

But all in all, it was a great day for the Nuggets. The team is healthier than it has been for a long time; Now they have to find a rhythm, build some consistency and get back on the road to success. You still have plenty of time to find the rhythm and get started.