Will Barton undergoes successful surgery, to be re-evaluated in 6 weeks

Will Barton underwent successful surgery to repair the core and hip muscle injuries he suffered in Saturday’s home opener against the Phoenix Suns and will be re-evaluated in six weeks, the Nuggets announced Tuesday morning.

Dr. Wiliam Meyers, who specializes in treating core muscle injuries, performed the surgery in Philadelphia. Meyers has previously operated on Adrian Peterson, Arian Foster, Justin Verlander and Robinson Cano among other well-known professional athletes.

In the third quarter against Phoenix, Barton went up for a twisting layup and said he felt a “pop.” He had to be wheeled off the court on a stretcher. He was able to walk around in the locker room afterward on his own power, but he did so gingerly.

Barton, who just earned a promotion to starting small forward, had gotten off to an excellent start before the injury. He scored 19 points in Denver’s season-opening win over the Clippers and was already up to 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting when he exited the game against the Suns.

Denver’s new-look starting lineup was humming with him a part of it, too. The Jamal Murray-Gary Harris-Barton-Paul Millsap-Nikola Jokic quintet outscored opponents by 29 points in 46 minutes together.

Torrey Craig started in Barton’s place Sunday. Craig did a solid job defending Kevin Durant. Durant scored seven points on 1-of-4 shooting when Craig was guarding him, according to NBA tracking data, as Denver earned a dramatic 100-98 win over the Warriors.

The Nuggets should be able to get through the next month and a half without Barton, but they won’t be the best version of themselves. Barton’s absence means Craig, Juancho Hernangomez, who came up with the game-saving block Sunday, and Malik Beasley will have to step into bigger roles.

The Nuggets (3-0) are on of five undefeated teams left in the NBA. They face the Sacramento Kings (1-2) at 7 p.m. tonight at Pepsi Center.