Sunday night’s loss to the Los Angeles Lakers ended up being a disaster of epic proportions for the Denver Nuggets.
Not only were Nikola Jokic and head coach Mike Malone ejected for having words with the referees, but Paul Millsap, one of this past summer’s primary free-agent prizes, left early with a wrist injury. He tried playing through it at first, but he ultimately sat out for the entire second half—and the issue was apparently more serious than his attempt to play through it would suggest.
From ESPN.com’s Chris Haynes:
X-ray results of Paul Millsap’s wrist came back negative, league sources tell ESPN. Huge relief for Denver. There was fear of a fracture.
— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) November 20, 2017
Phew. Bullet dodged.
Or maybe not.
From The Vertical’s Shams Charania:
Denver Nuggets All-Star forward Paul Millsap will undergo surgery on his left wrist and will be sidelined two to three months, league sources told The Vertical.
Millsap suffered the injury in the Nuggets’ road loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday night. Initial X-rays returned clean, but Millsap had further tests over the past two days that confirmed the need for surgery, league sources said.
Losing Millsap borders on catastrophic for the Nuggets. They were able to upend the Sacramento Kings without him—and the suspended Malone, mind you—on Monday night, but those are the Kings. They wouldn’t have been so fortunate down the line, with games against the Houston Rockets (Nov. 22) and Memphis Grizzlies (Nov. 24) on tap. (Though, to be fair, their schedule is pretty light on tough opponents for a couple weeks after that, and there’s no guarantee Millsap plays in either of the next two contests.)
Indeed, the Nuggets continue to labor through a learning curve on the offensive end. Integrating Millsap hasn’t always been easy. He occupies the same space as Jokic and isn’t accustomed to working without the ball, as a cutter and spot-up shooter, so much. But most of the wrinkles have already been ironed out. Millsap is now a key member of the Nuggets’ most feared lineup—which also just so happens to be one of the most effective units in the entire NBA.
Denver’s combination of Jokic, Millsap, Wilson Chandler, Garry Harris and Jamal Murray is blasting opponents by 12 points per 100 possessions through 224 minutes of action, according to NBA.com. Replace Murray with Will Baron, and the Nuggets’ have enjoyed similar small-sample success, outpacing opponents by 14.5 points per 100 possessions over a span of 15 minutes.
Millsap is important to what the Nuggets do—whatever they do, right down to their not-completely-sucky defense. They’re in for some warts without him.
