Aaron Gordon is ready to leave it all out on the floor for a winner-take-all Game 7.
Despite dealing with a left hamstring strain, the Denver Nuggets forward has been listed as active and available for Sunday’s do-or-die Game 7 against the Oklahoma City Thunder, the team announced ahead of the showdown.
Earlier on Sunday, ESPN’s Shams Charania reported that the injury is one that he will need several weeks to recover from, making it “physically improbable” that he suits up for Game 7 in Oklahoma City.
Charania added that Gordon has been searching for ways to play in Sunday’s game, and the Nuggets have still gone through practices and game-planning as though the forward would be able to suit up, but the injury may be too major.
Nuggets head coach David Adelman told reporters on Sunday that a collective decision will be made after pre-game warmup.
“If Aaron can go, he’ll go,” Adelman said, per ESPN’s Tim MacMahon. “That’s who he is. There’s a real toughness there. Sometimes being really, really tough and being hurt can get in the way.”
Gordon grabbed his hamstring late in Thursday’s Game 6 win and said in the locker room afterward that his hamstring felt “OK.” He added he was going to “start the recovery process now.”
On Saturday, Nuggets head coach David Adelman explained that Gordon is still a game-time decision.
“I’m sure the hoops (to jump through) are probably smaller because the game’s coming so quickly,” Nuggets interim coach David Adelman explained after the workout at Ball Arena. “It’s not a thing where he has three weeks to go through it. So it will be probably his comfortability, along with the medical staff’s advice on what he can and can’t do.
“If they say he’s available, he will start.”
Adelman didn’t know the grade of Gordon’s strain. He said that Gordon was acting just like himself at practice.
The 29-year-old Gordon has come up big in the post-season, averaging 16.8 points and 7.3 rebounds. He had a game-winning dunk in Game 4 as Denver beat the Los Angeles Clippers in seven games in the first round.
In this series, he has averaged 14.5 points and 9.2 rebounds while shooting 45 per cent from three-point range. He hit the game-winning three-pointer in Game 1, a 121-119 victory that temporarily gave the Nuggets homecourt advantage.
Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said the Thunder are prepared either way.
“It’s Game 7,” he said. “Anything can happen. Anybody can step up. We’ve got to be ready for their best punch. We are. We know they’re going to throw their best punch to start with.”
The Nuggets and Thunder square off for Game 7 on Sunday afternoon, with the winner set to face off against the Minnesota Timberwolves in the Western Conference Final.
— With files from the Associated Press
