More Nuggets enter COVID protocols ahead of Warriors matchup: report
Three Denver players and head coach Michael Malone ruled out Thursday
vs. Golden State, per ESPN
>SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA- DECEMBER 28: Golden State Warriors’ Otto
Porter Jr. #32 congratulates Denver Nuggets’ Jeff Green #32 after the
Nuggets 89-86 NBA win at the Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on
Tuesday, Dec. 28, 2021. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)
>SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA- DECEMBER 28: Golden State Warriors’ Otto
Porter Jr. #32 congratulates Denver Nuggets’ Jeff Green #32 after the
Nuggets 89-86 NBA win at the Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on
Tuesday, Dec. 28, 2021. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)
By EVAN WEBECK | ewebeck@bayareanewsgroup.com | Bay Area News Group
PUBLISHED: December 30, 2021 at 10:27 a.m. | UPDATED: December 30, 2021
at 10:52 a.m.
https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2021/12/30/more-nuggets-enter-covid-protocols-ahead-of-warriors-matchup-report/

With two more players set to return Thursday night, the Golden State
Warriors have cleared three of their five players who recently entered
the NBA’s health and safety protocols amid the surge sweeping through
the league. But as they get closer to full strength while embarking on a
short road trip, their first opponent is reportedly hanging on by a thread.

The Denver Nuggets, who already had eight players ruled out or
questionable for their game against Golden State, had their coach,
Michael Malone, and three more players enter health and safety protocols
Thursday morning, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

Forwards Jeff Green and Zeke Nnaji and guard Bones Hyland all entered
protocols, according to Wojnarowski, along with Malone and two assistant
coaches, leaving the already depleted Nuggets down a starter and two key
reserves. According to the report, Denver’s ability to meet the NBA
minimum of eight active players could put the game in jeopardy, pending
the status of four players listed as questionable.

Between Green, Aaron Gordon (questionable; left hamstring soreness) and
Monte Morris (questionable; left knee soreness), Denver could be without
three-fifths of its starting lineup, in addition to more than 30 points
in bench scoring between Austin Rivers (questionable; right thumb
sprain), P.J. Dozier (out; left ACL surgery), Vlatko Cancar
(questionable: non-COVID illness), Nnaji and Hyland.

The Nuggets got the best of the Warriors on Tuesday in the first meeting
of two of the Western Conference’s top contenders, but Golden State is
set to get back two more players from health and safety protocols:
starting guard Jordan Poole and rookie reserve Moses Moody, though they
remain without the services of Draymond Green and Damion Lee (health and
safety protocols).

Andrew Wiggins returned from protocols Tuesday and nearly willed the
Warriors back from a 24-point deficit, but he and Steph Curry weren’t
quite enough for the shorthanded squad in a defeat that came down to the
buzzer.

Amid back-to-back games against a team in the midst of an outbreak, it
wasn’t immediately known whether any Warriors had been exposed, but no
additional players were listed on the injury report ahead of Thursday’s
game. (That is Green with Otto Porter Jr. in the above photograph.)

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In addition to Green and Lee, rehabbing second-year center James Wiseman
entered health and safety protocols Wednesday, while assistant coaches
Chris DeMarco and Mike Brown also remain in the protocols; fellow
assistant Kenny Atkinson recently rejoined the bench following a leg
injury but is still unable to travel.

Importantly, one player remains active and as much of a threat as ever:
Denver’s MVP forward Nikola Jokić, who torched the undermanned Warriors
for a 22-point, 18-rebound double-double in their first meeting.

--
Evan Webeck | Reporter
Evan Webeck covers high-school sports on the field and beyond — and a
little bit of everything else — for the Bay Area News Group. A Pacific
Northwest native and graduate of Arizona State, Evan has previously
worked for The Seattle Times, MLB.com and Sports Illustrated.