Bad news for Denver Nuggets as Aaron Gordon suffers hamstring injury in NBA cup clash vs Houston Rockets

The Denver Nuggets secured a 112-109 NBA Cup win against the Houston Rockets on Friday, but the celebration did not come without a scare. Aaron Gordon went down early in the game with a hamstring injury, and he never returned to the court.

Aaron Gordon suffers hamstring injury again

After three minutes of action, Gordon clashed with Steven Adams and hit the floor awkwardly. Teammates helped him up, and he was guided towards the locker room quickly. Not long after, the team confirmed he would sit out the rest of the night.

Luckily the Denver Nuggets found a strong finish. The duo of Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray joined hands for 60 points and 19 assists to claim their second win of the 2025 NBA Cup group stage.

Once the game finished, fans hoped for good news. Instead, they heard something more problematic. Head coach David Adelman did not reveal all the details, but simply claimed that Aaron Gordon could be out for a while.

“Adelman: Aaron Gordon (hamstring) expected to miss some time,” @UnderdogNBA tweeted.

Aaron Gordon's recurring hamstring injuries

Aaron Gordon has faced hamstring injuries before. During the Nuggets-Thunder series in the 2025 playoffs, he picked up a Grade 2 strain in his left hamstring. He missed a total of 31 games during the 2024-25 season, mainly because of recurring hamstring troubles.

Aaron Gordon's great season so far

Gordon has been averaging a career high 20.3 points along with 6.3 rebounds per game.

Nuggets can stay fine in Aaron Gordon's possible absence

If Aaron Gordon ends up missing a lot of time, it would be a big loss for the Denver Nuggets. The good news for them is that they have an easy schedule to close out the calendar year.

In their next 12 games, Nikola Jokic and company will face opponents with records below 500 in seven of those games. Even without Gordon on the floor, the Nuggets should still be favorites to win most of those games and continue to move up the Western Conference table.

Friday's clash against the Houston Rockets saw Tim Hardaway Jr. take on a bigger role to help fill the gap left by Gordon. He and Jonas Valanciunas will be counted on to step up until Gordon comes back.