The Denver Nuggets' injury trouble has been relentless this season, with countless stars going down for weeks at a time and leaving head coach David Adelman scrambling to find effective rotations with his shorthanded roster.

In those times of crisis where the Nuggets were bereft of healthy stars, several role players stepped up into elevated roles and played their parts to perfection. 

One of those role players was Peyton Watson, who himself then suffered injury trouble, going down with a hamstring injury against the New York Knicks on Feb. 2 and missing well over a month to recover.

His long period away from the court finally came to an end Sunday night when he made his return in a 128-112 win over the Portland Trail Blazers. 

"It was hard for me to sleep last night. I was just anticipating this day for a long time, obviously," Watson said (via Nuggets). "You never know what to expect from the rehab process and it was really tough for me at times. But, I'm glad that I was able to push through it... I'm ready to continue to contribute for us."

Watson didn't disappoint in his return. The 6'8 forward/guard out of UCLA scored 14 points in 20 minutes while shooting 6-13 from the field. 

Before he was injured, Watson was playing some of the best basketball of his career and thriving in his elevated role. He's averaging 14.9 point, 4.9 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game, all career highs, while playing more minutes than ever before at 30.4 per game.

Missing that much can make it hard for nay player to get back into the flow of things, especially as more and more Nuggets have made their own return form injury and changed he makeup of the team dramatically.

However, Watson celebrated the efforts of his coaches that stayed with him all while he was recovering and kept him in the loop of game plans while constantly devising how they would work Watson back in. 

Watson have credit to Adelman and to his teammates like Nikola Jokic for showing no hesitation in getting him the ball once he was finally back on the court, and that trust they showed in him was huge in helping build his confidence in his return. 

The Nuggets need all the help they can get as the season comes to a close and when healthy, they're still one of the most formidable teams in the league.

With players like Watson reaching new heights in their own right, that powerful lineup looks even better.