Paul Millsap diagnosed with wrist injury, status uncertain moving forward

Denver Nuggets starting power forward Paul Millsap will not play Monday night in Sacramento against the Kings after suffering a left wrist sprain the first half of Denver’s 18-point loss to the Lakers on Sunday.

Millsap injured his wrist at some point during the first quarter in Los Angeles, tried to play through the pain and eventually went back to the Nuggets’ locker room. The 32-year-old returned to Denver’s bench but did not see the floor in the second quarter. He was later ruled out for the rest of the game after halftime.

Millsap played just 13 minutes against the Lakers and finished with five points and four assists.

Nuggets’ coach Michael Malone said Millsap had X-rays taken at Staples Center but results were still pending at the time of his postgame press conference. ESPN’s Chris Haynes reported that X-rays on Millsap’s left wrist were negative.

Losing Millsap for an extended amount of time would be a monumental blow to the Nuggets and their outlook this season. Denver has improved to the 17th-best defense in the league this year and is giving up 105.8 points per 100 possessions through 16 games — down from the 110.5 they surrendered a year ago. A more aggressive defensive scheme — similar to the one Millsap played in Atlanta — has helped Denver improve on that end of the floor but Millsap remains the Nuggets’ linchpin and captain of their defense.

Millsap and Nikola Jokic had also been developing a nice chemistry on the offensive end of the floor and have been among Denver’s most efficient two-man combinations after starting the season in the negatives. The Nuggets are a plus-63 when Millsap and Jokic share the court this year.

Kenneth Faried is expected to start in Millsap’s place.

Wilson Chandler (low back pain) is questionable for Monday’s matchup in Sacramento. If Chandler is unable to play versus the Kings either Will Barton or Juancho Hernangomez could step into the starting lineup.

Hernangomez played regular rotation minutes against the Lakers for the first time since missing ten games with mono earlier this season. The forward logged 19 minutes Sunday night and finished with seven points on 3-4 shooting and four rebounds. Hernangomez looked rusty as expected.

[columns]
[column size=”1/2″]Nuggets Starters

Jamal Murray
Gary Harris
Wilson Chandler
Kenneth Faried
Nikola Jokic[/column]
[column size=”1/2″]Kings Starters

De’Aaron Fox
George Hill
Garrett Temple
Zach Randolph
Skal Labissiere[/column]
[/columns]