Julian Strawther exits Sunday’s loss with a leg injury, status unknown going forward
Mar 3, 2025, 10:57 AM | Updated: 10:58 am
The Denver Nuggets were unable to complete the comeback against the Boston Celtics Sunday in a 110-103 loss on the road in which the Nuggets were down 20 points early in the third quarter. Denver also lost its young sharpshooter, Julian Strawther, who suffered a leg injury when going up for a shot attempt in the second half.
Julian Strawther headed to the locker room due to an injury.
The full incident (with replays) pic.twitter.com/d50rCOGWRB— MrBuckBuck (@MrBuckBuckNBA) March 2, 2025
There has been no announcement from the Nuggets on the severity of his injury yet, but he did return to the team bench Sunday after going straight to the locker room when he suffered it.
Strawther was just 1-for-4 in the 14 minutes of action he saw on Sunday and was a game-worst -18 when on the floor. Despite the poor play on Sunday, his efforts on the offensive end can be an asset for this team at times when the offense gets stagnant.
The sharpshooting guard from Gonzaga is shooting almost 36% from distance this year and has provided some sparks for the Nuggets offense at times, despite struggling lately. He has been averaging just over 22 minutes played per game and has been one of Michael Malone’s favorite puzzle pieces off the bench. While the defense needs a lot of improvement (especially in a playoff series), missing his potential offensive contributions could be important.
This injury has opened the door for Jalen Pickett, the second-year guard out of Penn State. Many fans have called for Pickett’s number to be called throughout the season, but he has struggled to crack Malone’s rotation consistently, playing just over 10 minutes per game.
Pickett was a +5 in Sunday’s loss, one of just two players to have a positive plus/minus (Zeke Nnaji was a +4). His ability to run the offense, play competent defense and knock down shots can be valuable, and Nuggets fans can see that. Without Strawther in the lineup for the foreseeable future and Russell Westbrook struggling, this will be an important stretch for Malone to let Pickett play his game and establish himself as a guy who can contribute in the playoffs.
Pickett was on the floor during the non-Jokic minutes to start the fourth quarter Sunday, a four minute stretch in which the Celtics’ lead blossomed to 10 points, a hill too steep to climb for the Nuggets’ starters when they returned to the game. If the Nuggets want to fix the non-Jokic woes, they need to experiment with different lineups and get more consistency from their other players to try and find a way to stay afloat for those stretches.
For now, the Nuggets have to focus on Wednesday’s clash against the Sacramento Kings. Michael Malone will have to get creative with his lineups, and the fans hope that it features a lot of No. 24 for Denver when the time comes.
