Nuggets’ Paul Millsap has sprained wrist, x-rays pending

Denver Nuggets forward Paul Millsap may miss time due to a wrist injury.

The Denver Nuggets may have suffered a significant blow on Sunday, as forward Paul Millsap left the team’s game against the Los Angeles Lakers with a wrist injury. Millsap suffered the injury in the second quarter of play after posting five points, four rebounds and two assists in 13 minutes of court time. The Nuggets would go on to lose to the Lakers by a final score of 127-109.

Denver owns a solid record of 9-7 on the season, but they’ve experienced their fair share of struggles on the road. Sunday’s loss to the Lakers dropped the Nuggets’ road record to 2-5 on the year. Millsap is generally seen as Denver’s second-best player behind fellow big man Nikola Jokic, who was ejected from Sunday’s contest along with head coach Mike Malone for arguing with a referee.

Millsap did not return to Sunday’s game, per Gina Mizell of the Denver Post:

According to ESPN, Millsap suffered a sprained wrist, though Malone told reporters that he was still waiting on x-ray results. Millsap was an important free agent signing for Denver this past offseason, as the organization is looking to make a push for the postseason in 2017-18. The veteran forward is averaging 15.3 points, 6.2 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game this season.

Losing Millsap for an extended period of time would certainly hurt Denver, as every game matters in the ultra-competitive Western Conference. At 9-7, the Nuggets currently sit in the sixth spot in the conference ranks, but it’s still very early in the season and there are plenty of quality teams looking to leapfrog Denver in the standings.

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Should Millsap miss time due to the wrist injury, bigs Mason Plumlee and Kenneth Faried could see their playing time increase. Plumlee has been solid in limited minutes this season, though there is some question about how much he and Jokic can share the floor.