The Denver Nuggets’ quest to secure the Western Conference’s eighth and final playoff spot is getting a little harder.
Kenneth Faried has missed five of the team’s last seven and is expected to sit out for the next seven to 10 days with a back injury, per the Denver Post‘s Nick Kosmider:
Kenneth Faried did not make the trip to Chicago. Back in Denver getting treatment. Malone estimates he'll be out at least 7-10 days.
— Nick Kosmider (@NickKosmider) February 28, 2017
Denver has enough depth up front to weather this storm. Juan Hernangomez has been a delight in recent weeks, Mason Plumlee has shown he can play with Nikola Jokic and then there’s Nikola Jokic himself. His absence also gives head coach Mike Malone more room to experiment with small-ball lineups that feature Wilson Chandler and Danilo Gallinari at the 4.
But Faried has been the Nuggets’ second-most consistent player behind Jokic all season. Though he doesn’t space the floor and his defense is suspect, he provides pure hustle and a strong rebounding presence. With upcoming tilts against the Chicago Bulls, Milwaukee Bucks, Charlotte Hornets and Washington Wizards, all of whom are playoff contenders themselves, Denver will end up feeling his absence at some point.
