The Denver Nuggets' season can be summed up in one word: injuries. For most teams, injuries would derail their season, having them on the fringe or even outside of the playoff race entirely. However, first-year head coach David Adelman has been able to defy the odds, leading this group with a 31-16 record heading into Thursday night.

Waiting for them at Ball Arena on Thursday will be the Brooklyn Nets, as Michael Porter Jr. makes his return to Denver after being dealt in the 2025 offseason for Cameron Johnson. It's been a career season for him, and he'll be looking to make it a 2-0 series sweep for Brooklyn.

As mentioned, the Nuggets are still battling injuries, with most of their top players appearing on Thursday's injury report in some capacity.

Those listed as OUT for Thursday's contest include Tamar Bates (foot), Christian Braun (ankle), Aaron Gordon (hamstring), Cameron Johnson (knee), Nikola Jokic (knee), and Curtis Jones (two-way).

Braun and Gordon were the first of the starters to go down this season, with both eventually returning but now back on the injury report. Johnson and Jokic have not returned at all since their respective injuries, but reports indicate that Jokic could be back in around a week.

To round out the injury report, Jamal Murray (hamstring) and Jonas Valanciunas (calf) appear on the injury report once again, both still listed as PROBABLE after eventually being upgraded to available in their recent loss to the Detroit Pistons.

Peyton Watson is not listed this time, as Denver will need everything they can get from their breakout star.

Brooklyn's injury report includes some key names for them, highlighted by Egor Demin (fascia) and Cam Thomas (hamstring), both ruled OUT for Thursday's contest. They are joined by Noah Clowney (back), Tyson Etienne (two-way), Haywood Highsmith (knee), Chaney Johnson (two-way), and Ziaire Williams (calf), who are OUT as well.

Terance Mann is the only other name listed, as the veteran wing is AVAILABLE, as he's been dealing with back soreness.

Luckily for Brooklyn, no sign of Michael Porter Jr. on the injury report, as he'll look to build upon his 27-point performance from the last time the two sides played, when they won 127-115 in Brooklyn.

The last time these two sides faced off, the Nuggets were dealing with key injuries as well, but had both Christian Braun and Aaron Gordon available then. While Valanciunas suiting up will be big for them, controlling the rebounding battle, there's no telling where this game will go.

Tip-off at the Ball Arena is set for 9:00 p.m. EST.