WASHINGTON, D.C. — Nuggets fans have been conditioned to experience extreme paranoia this season whenever a player reaches for his leg or shows even the slightest pain in a grimace.
A collective groan accompanied Peyton Watson down the court Thursday night after he popped up from the baseline with a limp. In a drowsy environment at Capital One Arena, supporters of the visiting team could be heard. Nuggets coach David Adelman used a timeout as Watson massaged his left ankle. He walked around gingerly behind the bench, then briefly disappeared toward the locker room with a team doctor. How could this keep happening?
Mercifully, the dread dissipated quickly this time. Watson promptly returned to the bench between the third and fourth quarters and was able to finish the game, a 107-97 Nuggets win over the Wizards. He was greeted by a small but audible cheer as he emerged from the tunnel.
“I’m light. I don’t carry a lot of weight, so ankle sprains and stuff don’t really (impact me),” Watson said.
The injury scare happened on a highlight, fittingly — a driving right-handed finish off the glass with enough arc to thwart a block attempt. Watson went for a career-high 35 points, along with eight rebounds, three assists, two steals and four blocks of his own.
The Nuggets (30-15) needed it. They were fending off a two-game losing streak and still missing three of their usual starters, even with backup center Jonas Valanciunas returning to the lineup. Scoring was a premium for both teams. Watson steadied the ship while Jamal Murray started slow on an eventual 24-point, five-assist night and Tim Hardaway Jr. struggled to find a rhythm.
“I don’t know, man. It seems like every time we get somebody back, it looks like someone (else) is gonna get hurt,” Adelman said. “Luckily, we got through this game. … It was cool for him to get his career-high on a night when he played a really good floor game, too. He played good basketball on both ends. I didn’t think he hunted shots. He hunted the rim.”
Whether he hunted them or not, Watson also provided a 6-for-8 boost from 3-point range, extending the line with bombs above the break. Watson now has four career 30-point games — all this season, three this month.
“He’s picking and choosing at the right times,” Adelman said. “… The toughness showed with him coming back.”
Valanciunas returned from a right calf strain after missing the last 11 games, coinciding with Nikola Jokic’s extended absence for a hyperextended knee. Denver immediately felt the effects of having a traditional center back in the lineup. Valanciunas amassed 16 points and nine rebounds. He struggled with foul trouble but was on a minutes restriction anyway, finishing the night at 22.
The 33-year-old big man scored as a roller to the basket on his first possession in three weeks. He got Wizards forward Khris Middleton stuck on a switch after screening for Aaron Gordon and drew a foul posting Middleton up. He passed to cutters out of the high post. He scored consecutive buckets after snatching offensive rebounds in the third quarter, a luxury the Nuggets had almost forgotten.
When his night was done, they finished the game with Gordon and Spencer Jones in the frontcourt.
Watson kept absorbing punches all the way to the final buzzer. Almost literal ones. Middleton caught him in the face while he tried to soar for an ambitious dunk with 1:50 remaining, causing Watson to stay down for a moment after a hard landing on the same ankle. He walked it off again, to the delight of the faction of Denver fans in the audience.
“It’s something you can’t really control. All I know is to play by instinct,” Watson said when asked about the risks of attacking the rim so aggressively. “And I try to go out there and play it safe as much as I can, but there’s only so long you can do that. You’ve just gotta go out there and try to take advantage of everything. That’s what I do. Sometimes, you’re gonna take tough spills doing that.”
Jokic missed his 13th consecutive game, but he traveled with the team for the start of its three-game road trip and went through a pregame shooting routine in Washington, wearing a sleeve over his left leg. Injured wings Cam Johnson and Christian Braun also traveled and went through their routines.
The Nuggets flew to Milwaukee after the game for a back-to-back Friday night against Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Bucks. Murray played 36 minutes through hamstring tightness that popped up at the last second in Washington, Adelman said.
“Tonight, (players will) get treatment on the flight to Milwaukee, or right now, as well. … We will make smart decisions for our players,” he said when asked if anybody will sit out. “The hope is everybody plays. That’s always the hope. But this has been a unique season, and we have to do what’s right for the guys. Obviously, when you’re coaching, you’re selfish; you want to win every game you play. But we want to win games at the end of the season, too.”
