Nuggets’ injury woes continue as Will Barton injures hamstring

Another injury for the Denver Nuggets will only add to the difficulty as the playoffs near, with small forward Will Barton sidelined by a hamstring.

Losing Jamal Murray to an ACL tear was bad enough for the Denver Nuggets. Monte Morris suffering a hamstring injury a few days later poured salt on the wound. It turns out that wasn’t rock bottom.

On Friday night, small forward Will Barton also injured his hamstring in the first minute against the Golden State Warriors.

According to Mike Singer of the Denver Post, the forward will miss “a handful of the next few games” at a minimum.

The way Barton posted on his Instagram on Saturday also suggests this isn’t a minor problem.

“Instead of letting pain become a distraction. We gotta learn how to live with it, adapt to it, and use it for motivation,” Barton wrote. “Pain weakness if you allow it and it’s strength if you use it correctly.”

Whether that’s a post about playing through pain or looking to come back stronger is open to your interpretation.

Losing Jamal Murray, Monte Morris and Will Barton may be too much for Denver

The incredible thing is the Nuggets were coping alright without Murray and Morris. This one might be the straw that breaks the camel’s back.

With those three players out, the Warriors smashed the Nuggets 118-97, as 26 points from Michael Porter Jr. and 19 points and 6 assists from Nikola Jokic proved to not be enough.

There are 13 games left on the slate, with the playoffs to come after that. If Denver is lucky, they’ll get Barton back in a few weeks without any setbacks. Until then, they’ll need to dig deep to keep hold of the No. 4 seed in the Western Conference. Fall too far and even a place in the play-in games could be a possibility.