Danilo Gallinari popped up on the injury report for the Denver Nuggets earlier today before the Philadelphia 76ers game with a “left knee strain,” yet still played 39 minutes, scored 24 points and looked 100 percent healthy in Denver’s 108-105 victory.
However, Chris Dempsey of the Denver Post is reporting that Gallinari in fact has a deep bone bruise in his left knee. He hurt it versus the Chicago Bulls back on Dec. 2nd, but is going to try his best to play through it.
#Nuggets F Danilo Gallinari says he has a deep bone bruise in his left knee and that "my knee, it's painful." He hurt it vs. the Bulls.
— Chris Dempsey (@chrisadempsey) December 6, 2015
But Gallo says he's good w/playing through the pain. "I've played with fractures and other stuff. Pain is not a problem." #Nuggets
— Chris Dempsey (@chrisadempsey) December 6, 2015
And Gallo says it's nothing more than what it is. "My knee is very stable. I'm really not worried." #Nuggets
— Chris Dempsey (@chrisadempsey) December 6, 2015
Gallinari allegedly injured the knee sometime during the Chicago game, but went on to play 35 minutes the next night in Toronto on the second game of a back-to-back. He obviously still felt the effects of that bone bruise against the Raptors, but was able to log major minutes in Denver’s 106-105 win.
In the video below we can see Gallinari visibly limping against the Raptors in the first quarter:
Of course everyone who follows the league and the Nuggets closely knows of Gallo’s checkered injury history. Gallinari first injured his left knee in April of 2013 and had the first of what was supposed to be a two-part surgery to repair a torn meniscus and then his Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL). The surgery to repair his meniscus was successful, but the “healing-response” treatment that was chosen for his ACL was not. Gallinari then had surgery in Jan. of 2014 to repair the torn ACL and missed the entire 2013-14 season and appeared in only 59 games last year.
Gallinari is averaging a 34.3 minutes per game this season, the highest amount since the 2010-11 season when Gallo was with the New York Knicks.
