Aaron Gordon, Christian Braun injury updates: Nuggets starters likely out through Christmas

In all likelihood Aaron Gordon and Christian Braun will be ornaments on the home company s bench this Christmas Nuggets coach David Adelman doesn t expect Gordon or Braun to be back from their respective injuries by the time Denver hosts Minnesota for a Christmas nightcap The Nuggets - have played their last eight games without their starting two-guard and power forward both of whom are in the midst of multi-week recoveries Gordon from a right hamstring strain Braun from a sprained left ankle Aaron and Christian it s a slow process Adelman commented I would imagine they celebrate the holiday without playing But we ll see The Nuggets and Timberwolves will compete in the finale of a traditional five-game slate on Christmas They ll tip off at p m ABC ESPN at Ball Arena It s the fourth consecutive year Denver has been tapped to play on the holiday a marquee day on the NBA s regular-season calendar Then on Dec the Nuggets will fly to Orlando to begin a seven-game road trip their longest in four years Adelman hinted that while Gordon and Braun allegedly won t play against Minnesota maybe on that trip we get them back maybe we don t Braun was ruled out for at least six weeks on Nov putting him on schedule to be reevaluated for a prospective return right around Christmas He joined the organization on the road last week and did individual workouts with Denver s staff Gordon s injury is not as isolated as Braun s The -year-old has a latest history of soft tissue injuries in his calves and hamstrings including a strained left hamstring that he tried to play through in Championship of a playoff series in May His current strain is in the other leg He was given a reevaluation timeline of four to six weeks on Nov leaving his realizable return date more open-ended They both seem good Adelman commented Christian is in a good spot He s moving around more And Aaron is working his way through it Aaron s injury is one of those with kind of a tedious build-up You have to be careful with what could happen to the same injury not to mention other things Excited to get both guys back In the meantime we have to hold it down for those guys Braun was already sidelined when Gordon s hamstring discomfort started to flare up He missed a match in New Orleans for precautionary reasons then tried to play two days later in Houston only to suffer the full Grade strain and leave the court four minutes into the meeting Related Articles Jamal Murray earns first career NBA Western Conference Performer of the Week honor Jamal Murray is backing up preseason talk Will he be absolutely rewarded as an All-Star Nikola Jokic Jamal Murray lead Nuggets to franchise-record th consecutive road win Nuggets rally from down points to beat Hawks extend road winning streak Nuggets Journal For first time in Nikola Jokic s prime Denver doesn t look convincing in clutch Counting those two nights the Nuggets have essentially played their last games without Gordon and Braun They are - in that stretch with the second-best offense in the league points per possessions the third-worst defense and the eighth-best net rating Peyton Watson and Spencer Jones have filled in as starters Gordon s injury in particular derailed one of the best individual starts to a season of his career He s averaging points and rebounds while shooting from the field and from three Braun s efficiency as a scorer has worsened from last year but he s still giving Denver points boards and three assists per contest Offense aside Gordon and Braun are the two best defenders in Denver s starting lineup Their absences have been especially costly when the Nuggets have struggled to get stops during a peculiar four-game home losing streak Even more bizarre though is that it has coincided with a -game road winning streak that Denver will look to extend Thursday in Sacramento We ve kind of been in this zone of hotel rooms and playing in random cities and then getting on the plane But there is a rhythm to that too Adelman reported You kind of find this rhythm to the locker rooms and being together When we re at home it s very different You kind of control your own time here as opposed to on the road where it s all kind of dictated to you So yeah for whatever reason when we ve been here it hasn t gone great Want more Nuggets news Sign up for the Nuggets Insider to get all our NBA analysis