The Denver Nuggets walked into Monday’s matchup against the Houston Rockets already short-handed, with starters Aaron Gordon and Christian Braun sidelined by injuries. Yet the situation worsened. Peyton Watson was forced to exit in the first half after suffering a right trunk contusion and did not return. With Denver’s rotation thinning, attention now turns to the latest update on his status.

“Well, he had a lot of discomfort. It was bone on bone. It’s one of those things where I think it could be totally fine tomorrow. But it hurt him,” Denver’s head coach, David Adelman, said. “It was one of those like stingers that he just couldn’t get himself warmed up again. And Peyton’s a tough kid, so when he called for the sub and fouled, you knew it wasn’t good.”

“But nothing long-term as far as I understand. Just probably a bone bruise. Sometimes those can be really painful. So yeah, it s—-d to lose Peyton,” he further revealed.

While it’s tough identify the exact moment in which the 23-year-old suffered the injury, Adelman pointed out that Watson did not feel too great afterwards, which is a bummer for the Nuggets.

Peyton was looking good during the six minutes he was on the court. He scored 5 points while shooting 2-of-4 from the field and even had one steal to his name before he had to head to the locker room. Nonetheless, the good news is that the shooting guard hasn’t sustained a serious blow, meaning he could be back on the court in no time.

More so because they are already quite shorthanded at the moment, and Peyton Watson has stepped up in Braun and Gordon’s absence. In the 25 games he’s played this season, the young guard has been averaging 10.5 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 1.6 assists per game, that too, while shooting 50.3 percent from the field and 39.1 percent from beyond the arc.

So, even though the Nuggets could come through with a hard-fought overtime 128-125 win over the Rockets, thanks to Nikola Jokic’s 39 point performances, they’ll need Watson back in the mix eventually, with their other starters yet to recover. However, until then, head coach David Adelman will have to figure out a way to replace him, or has he already found an answer to that question?

David Adelman reveals rotation plan and admits it’s not easy to replace injured starters

While the Denver Nuggets extended their winning streak to five last night and improved their season record to 19-6, this impressive form hasn’t come without trouble. Throughout the season, head coach David Adelman has been dealing with massive blows one after the other, with the latest one being Peyton Watson’s. So, amid this, he revealed his rotation plan after Monday’s win.

“You can’t just run those guys into the ground. And so you almost have to recreate the rotation you went into the game with. And so we were pulling guys in and out and all those things. And it changed us defensively,” Adelman said.

“Give our guys so much credit. We were doubling a lot. We’re flying around. We’re rotating. And then I’m asking you to also keep them off the glass. It’s not that easy, man.”

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The first-year Nuggets head coach suggested that while his team is missing key players, he doesn’t want to put too much pressure on the others. Well, his trust in his depth seems to be paying off big time as Denver has been playing some great basketball despite being shorthanded. So, there’s no reason for David Adelman to change his tactics, at least for now.

Even more so because his team has been doing everything that he is asking them to do on the floor. Nonetheless, it will be very interesting to see to what lengths can this Nuggets team can go once Aaron Gordon and Christian Braun return to the mix. Can they go all the way this season? Only time will tell, as they now shift their focus toward the Orlando Magic, whom they face next on Thursday.