Rockets vs. Nuggets game preview: injuries suck a lot

The biggest news out of Denver is obviously Jamal Murray’s ACL injury. By any metric, he was having the best year of his young career. Following his stellar postseason showing last year, he was a big part of Denver’s championship hopes. As a neutral fan, he is fun to watch and gives them a real secondary punch behind MVP frontrunner Nikola Jokic.

Injuries suck.

Denver was on a hot streak right before the injury. The Aaron Gordon trade has worked out swimmingly, and now the former Orlando player will have to step up his game. Also being called into more action will be Michael Porter Jr. The Nuggets beat Miami on Wednesday night behind good games from their three horses.

We’ve talked about expectations a lot this season. After a Western Conference Finals trip last season, the expectation was that the Nuggets were ready to take the next step. The team was at least a second round team, and probably were hoping to at least have a real shot at the Finals. Denver is currently 35-20 and sitting in fourth place, but with the Murray injury there’s definitely an expected letdown. I actually think more Jokic is going to be fun. We’ll see.

Tip-off is at 7pm CT on AT&T SportsNet Southwest