The Denver Nuggets are slated to play their biggest game of the season thus far on Sunday. They will do battle in Game 7 of their second-round series against the Oklahoma City Thunder, and the winner will advance to the Western Conference Finals to play guard Anthony Edwards and the Minnesota Timberwolves.
However, the Nuggets will likely have to fight for their playoff lives without one of their best players. Forward Aaron Gordon is dealing with a hamstring injury that could force him to miss the remainder of the 2025 NBA Playoffs, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania.
Reporting for @SportsCenter on Nuggets forward Aaron Gordon expected to need one month to recover from a Grade 2 left hamstring strain: pic.twitter.com/moB2OETJEY
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) May 18, 2025
“Sources tell me Aaron Gordon has a Grade 2 left hamstring strain,” Charania said. “He needs approximately one month to recover from the injury, and as much as he’s trying everything he possibly can to play in today’s pivotal Game 7 for a Western Conference Finals berth in Oklahoma City, he could very well miss the remainder of the playoffs, as it’s becoming physically improbable to play through this Grade 2 hamstring strain. And it’s just difficult timing for Aaron Gordon. He’s been one of the best players in the playoffs — several game-winning, game-tying shots. So, look for Denver to rely on Peyton Watson and Julian Strawther to step up.”
Gordon’s importance to the Nuggets’ stint in the 2025 NBA Playoffs cannot be overstated. So far in these playoffs, he’s averaging the third-most points of any Nugget as well as the second-most rebounds all the while playing admirably on the defensive end of the floor as well.
While Gordon started out his career with the Orlando Magic, he’s become a key part of several playoff teams in Denver.
Gordon has been a member of the Nuggets for several seasons now and helped them to their first championship in franchise history earlier on in his tenure. The Nuggets won the 2023 NBA title after they beat the Miami Heat in the championship series, and Gordon averaged 13.3 points per game across 20 contests in the 2023 NBA Playoffs.
Hopefully for the sake of the Nuggets’ season, at least one of Watson or Strawther will step up in a major way if Gordon does miss Sunday’s Game 7. Watson has scored as many as nine points in a single game in this best-of-seven series, and Strawther is on the heels of a 15-point performance in Denver’s Game 6 victory.
The Nuggets can send the Thunder home with a victory on Sunday.
OKC just put together one of the best regular seasons in the history of the league in the 2024-25 campaign. The Thunder won 68 games during the 2024-25 regular season, and they are one of only seven teams ever to pick up that many wins in a single campaign.
