David Adelman Reacts to Flurry of Injuries to Denver Nuggets

Denver Nuggets head coach David Adelman had one of those nights where the only thing you can do is laugh and keep coaching.

After his team's 116-93 win over the Golden State Warriors on Sunday at Ball Arena, Adelman reflected on a game that kept getting worse on the injury front.

"I mean, there was a timeout where I just looked back at my day and I woke up this morning thinking Aaron Gordon was going to start, he didn't," Adelman said postgame. "Spence [Jones] goes out, Cam [Johnson] goes out. I thought Zeke [Nnaji] was really impactful and then he went out. So, I gave the smalls a lot of credit...I'm hoping for good news tomorrow...It's so funny that this year has been like that. It's never a guard and a forward or a guard and a center, it's like the whole group goes out. So, we'll adjust as we need to to try to win the next game."

Gordon was ruled out before the game with left calf tightness, which meant Peyton Watson stepped into the starting lineup.

Then Spencer Jones left in the first quarter with hamstring tightness, Cameron Johnson exited in the third quarter with what was later described as back spasms, and Zeke Nnaji reportedly left the arena on crutches due to a hip impingement.

That is four forwards who were expected to be available, all going down in the span of one game.

And still, Denver pulled away. Nikola Jokic did what he does, finishing with 25 points, 15 rebounds and eight assists while shooting 50 percent from the floor.

He came two assists short of his fifth straight triple-double.

Jamal Murray added 20 points, six rebounds and seven assists, and Tim Hardaway Jr. gave Denver a spark off the bench with 16 points and four threes.

After trailing by five at halftime, the Nuggets outscored Golden State by 30 in the second half.

What stood out about Adelman's comments was the humor mixed with exhaustion.

This is not new for Denver.

Gordon has missed 44 games this season with separate hamstring injuries, Jokic missed 16 earlier in the year with a knee issue, and the Nuggets have been playing without their full rotation more often than not.

Every time they get healthy something else happens, and Adelman has had to piece things together on the fly all year.

But the good news is that Denver keeps winning anyway.

Sunday's victory marked their sixth in a row and pushed their record to 48-28, which has them sitting as the fourth seed in the Western Conference.

They are two games ahead of the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Houston Rockets, who are both 45-29 and tied for the fifth spot.

The Los Angeles Lakers sit just ahead of Denver at 48-26 for the third seed, so there is still room to move up if the Nuggets keep rolling and some things break their way.

Denver gets a couple of days off before heading to Utah on Wednesday, and Adelman is hopeful that Jones, Johnson and Nnaji could all return soon since none of the injuries appeared too serious.

But with the way this season has gone, nothing is guaranteed on the health front.

All Denver can do is keep adjusting and keep winning, which is exactly what they have been doing with Jokic and Murray carrying the load and the rest of the roster stepping up when called upon.