Kenneth Faried Injury: Nuggets PF Ruled Out vs. Spurs with Injured Back

Denver Nuggets forward Kenneth Faried suffered a back injury that will keep him out of Thursday's game against the San Antonio Spurs.  

Chris Dempsey of the Denver Post reported Faried wouldn't be on the court for the Nuggets due to his back issue. 

This will mark Faried's third consecutive missed game with pain in his lower back. Nuggets head coach Michael Malone doesn't appear concerned it will be a significant issue, though. 

“I don’t think it’s anything of a long-term thing," Malone said, per Dempsey. "I think it’s more of a day-to-day.”

After his progress on the court had seemed to stagnate, Faried put together a strong season in 2015-16. According to Basketball-Reference.com, he averaged 17.7 points—the second-highest mark of his career—and grabbed 12.3 rebounds per 36 minutes. Faried's 55.8 field-goal percentage was also a major improvement from the 50.7 percent mark he posted in 2014-15.

Injuries dogged the 27-year-old, though, and he appeared in only 67 games for Denver, his fewest since the lockout-shortened 2011-12 campaign. His performance this season has taken a hit with his workload being decreased to a career-low 21.8 minutes per game.

Faried is averaging 9.1 points and 7.9 rebounds in 32 games played. He has never averaged less than 10 points per game in a single season in the previous five years. 

Faried's offensive output has always been limited, and it's doubtful he'll ever add a mid-range jumper to his game. Still, his rebounding and energy in the paint make him a nice role player for the Nuggets.

Especially after sending Joffrey Lauvergne to the Oklahoma City Thunder, Denver doesn't have a lot of options in the frontcourt to replace Faried.

Malone will most likely have to use Nikola Jokic and Jusuf Nurkic together for longer stretches, which isn't ideal. The Nuggets have a 93.4 offensive rating and 110.5 defensive rating when they're both on the court, per NBA.com.