The Denver Nuggets will have one day off between games before they set to face off against the Portland Trail Blazers on the road on Friday night.
Denver is coming off a tough 120-108 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday as they were once again without their star duo of Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray.
Of course, Jokic and Murray were also sidelined in Monday’s surprise victory over the Golden State Warriors as they continue to deal with nagging injuries.
Jokic has been dealing with a right elbow contusion and an ankle injury that has bothered him for the last couple of weeks and Jamal Murray has been dealing with a lingering right ankle sprain.
While both players have missed both of Denver’s games this week, they had been able to play through the injuries but with the season winding down, head coach Michael Malone clearly wants to make sure that they are fully healthy for their playoff run.
After their loss to the Lakers on Wednesday, Malone gave an update on both Jokic and Murray as he said that Murray is close to returning that Jokic but they hope to have one or both of them back for Friday’s game against Portland.
Michael Malone says Jamal Murray is closer to returning than Nikola Jokic. Hope to have one or both back for the Portland game Friday night. Joker has been dealing with elbow and shoulder issues for a couple weeks now.
— Vic Lombardi (@VicLombardi) March 20, 2025
This is great news for the Nuggets but expect them to continue to be cautious with both players as they want them fully healthy before the playoffs begin.
Of course, Jokic is putting together arguably the best season of his career as he is once again in the MVP race with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the Oklahoma City Thunder.
For Murray, he has a rough start to the season but he has stepped up over the last few months as he has played a key role in Denver’s success.
While the Nuggets are taking caution with both players, they also have to worry about playoff seeding with the regular season winding down as they sit one game back of the Lakers and Houston Rockets for the second seed while leading the Memphis Grizzlies by just one game for the fourth seed.
This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.