It wasn't the best of news on the Denver Nuggets injury front today as Will Barton III (right hamstring strain) and PJ Dozier (right adductor strain) have already been ruled out for Game 1 Saturday night against the Portland Trail Blazers.

When Michael Malone spoke at practice yesterday he said Barton was able to do parts of practice over the past couple of days and that he’s closer to returning than Dozier. To make matters worse, Austin Rivers was added to the injury report and is questionable for Game 1 with a non-covid related illness.

The positive there is Rivers does not have COVID and hopefully he will be able to give the Nuggets at least some minutes on Saturday night. Denver is already hurting on the injury front and losing another guard would make defending Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum that much harder.

Malone will speak with the media before the game tomorrow when hopefully we can learn a little more information on the status of Barton, Dozier, and Rivers.