Nuggets forward Spencer Jones underwent an MRI that revealed a left hamstring strain this weekend, a team spokesperson told The Denver Post on Sunday.
Jones is considered day-to-day, but he could miss multiple if not all five of Denver’s preseason games. The team plans to be overly cautious to ensure he’s available for the season opener Oct. 22 at the Oklahoma City Thunder.
“So far, he’s reacting well to (treatment),” Nuggets coach David Adelman said before their preseason opener Sunday, a 109-97 loss to the Jazz in Boulder. “(Team doctor Steve Short) and those guys, they have all these things he has to get through to get back to playing — 1-on-1, 3-on-3. We’ll do a 5-on-5 session. But we’ve gotta be careful with Spence, man. That’s our backup four. And he’s a guy who can actually play backup five, backup three. And the goal is to get him to OKC.”
The Nuggets matched Oklahoma City’s two-year, $12 million offer sheet to retain Jones in restricted free agency this offseason. After starting last year on a two-way contract, he played 64 regular-season games in a breakout campaign, shooting 39.6% from the 3-point range and guarding star forwards.
The 25-year-old wing suffered his hamstring injury Friday during Denver’s fourth practice of training camp. Adelman described it as a “tweak” at the time.
Jamal Murray was also ruled out for personal reasons, but he was in attendance and wore street clothes on Denver’s bench.
First unit: Braun’s bounce
There’s not much to learn about Denver’s familiar starting lineup from a preseason game, but Christian Braun showed encouraging signs of explosiveness before the unit called it a day at halftime. Braun has been terse when addressing the state of his left ankle after an injury-plagued season. He appeared ready to let his play do the talking Sunday. The fifth-year guard went up strong at the rim a few times, including once for a vicious transition dunk that was contested by multiple Jazz defenders.
It was a two-part highlight, jump-started by a long Nikola Jokic outlet pass. Jokic was dropping dimes and practically refusing to shoot throughout his 15 minutes, amassing seven assists to zero turnovers. He found Aaron Gordon along the baseline for easy buckets and whipped one especially dazzling behind-the-back pass from one corner to the other, where Cam Johnson splashed the open 3-pointer.
Johnson launched six 3s in the first half. He made only a pair, but each attempt was a clean look in the flow of the game.
The Nuggets struggled to make their presence felt defensively, as usual. Utah will be a tough team for them to guard this season. Gordon on newcomer Jaren Jackson Jr. leaves Johnson to match up against 7-foot small forward Lauri Markkanen, a sharpshooter who went for 17 points in Boulder. When everyone is healthy, Murray will also be forced to guard either Darryn Peterson or Keyonte George.
Second unit: Strawther on the ball
DeMar DeRozan was Denver’s first sub, met with massive applause from the CU student body. Tyus Jones started in Murray’s place but also played a stint with the bench unit, initiating offense and often relocating to the corners when he was off the ball. With Spencer Jones out, rookie Trevon Brazile was used as the backup four at first, though Zeke Nnaji eventually checked in for some minutes alongside center Marvin Bagley III.
Bagley was an inefficient 2-for-7 from the field, but he grabbed seven rebounds and was a plus-two in his first 15 minutes. The Nuggets held Utah to just three points in the first five minutes of the second quarter while Jokic rested.
Murray’s absence created tough ripple effects on an already thin backcourt. When Tyus Jones wasn’t setting the table, the Nuggets often started the offense with either Ryan Nembhard or — interestingly — Julian Strawther. Strawther handled the ball a lot (especially after DeRozan was done for the night), which could become a trend on the Nuggets’ bench this season, whether they want it to or not. His 3-pointer wasn’t falling off the catch, but he still amassed 14 points on 13 shots with some solid downhill drives.
Third unit: Diallo’s defense
Alpha Diallo stuck out like a sore thumb. For the first hour of Sunday’s game, the Nuggets had lulled fans to sleep a bit with their lack of defensive intensity, as they’re prone to doing. Then Diallo checked in after halftime, face-guarding for all 90 feet with a calm, expressionless face. Former Nuggets two-way guard Trey Alexander tried to bring the ball up against him at the start of the fourth quarter and got whistled for an 8-second violation because he couldn’t get by.
DaRon Holmes II appears to be low on the pecking order again this preseason, considering Bagley, Nnaji and Brazile were all deployed before him as Adelman slowly emptied his bench. Denver’s offense struggled late in the game without a point guard on the floor, and Utah slowly pulled away as the Nuggets tried to figure out how to create an advantage in the halfcourt.
