The injury bug has hit the Denver Nuggets, worrying their fans about their chances in the upcoming playoffs. According to head coach Mike Malone, the condensed schedule is to blame for the series of injuries to his players.
Per Mike Singer of the Denver Post, Malone made the bold claim in light of PJ Dozier's recent hip injury. Dozier joined Jamal Murray (ACL), Monte Morris (hamstring), and Will Barton (hamstring) in the Nuggets' injured list. These left Facundo Campazzo, Austin Rivers, Shaq Harrison, and Markus Howard as the only guards at Malone's disposal.
“The condensed schedule, I know when the second half came out and I looked at it, I was really worried about how we were going to get through this both mentally and physically,” Malone said. “I can’t believe that Denver is the soft-tissue injury capital of the world.”
For the first time, Malone also said he thinks the condensed schedule had contributed to the Nuggets’ rash of injuries this last month. https://t.co/pl3trH56s1
— Mike Singer (@msinger) May 6, 2021
Malone believes that a similar trend can be observed across the league. He noted that the NBA, in creating the schedule, had the Olympics in mind. This resulted in a very tight schedule which Malone believes is the reason for the string of injuries. Perhaps the toughest blow to the team was when Murray went down, who could easily be tagged as the Nuggets' second-best player behind Nikola Jokic.
Moving forward, Malone promises fans and the media will see some creativity in how he adjusts his roster. The Nuggets' goal is still to win as many games as possible. However, Malone recognizes the possibility of further injuring his players if he fields some of them way above their average minutes.
Follow Us
Subscribe