Nuggets’ Aaron Gordon leaves the Suns game with a calf injury

The Denver Nuggets and Phoenix Suns square off in the NBA’s final Christmas Day game in a matchup between two rivals who have grown very familiar over the past few seasons.

The Suns have the lead in the second half, and the Nuggets may be fighting an uphill battle the rest of the way. Starting forward Aaron Gordon went down with a strained calf and is doubtful to returnaccording to Underdog NBA.

The Nuggets are already struggling in this one and haven’t been able to get much going on the road outside of Nikola Jokic. Christian Braun, Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. have all struggled in different areas and now Gordon is sidelined. Without him in the game, look for a player like Peyton Watson to step up at the end of this one.

Losing Gordon would be a huge blow to the Nuggets. He’s not one of their top scorers, but Gordon does so many different things for the Nuggets on the court, and his versatility makes him extremely valuable to the Denver operation. Gordon is one of the Nuggets’ best defenders and is a very good rebounder. He plays well with Jokic in the two-man game and can function as both a rolling or secondary ball carrier.

The Nuggets could really use Gordon in this game to defend the much taller Kevin Durant. Watson can handle the Durant task if Gordon is out, but the young UCLA product lacks some of the physicality that Gordon brings to the floor.

Calf tightness is a concerning diagnosis for Gordon, who has already missed time this season with a calf strain. Hopefully for Denver this is just a precaution and Gordon didn’t re-injure his calf and will be good to go.