Aaron Gordon Expected to Start for Nuggets vs. Thunder Game 7 amid Hamstring Injury

Aaron Gordon isn't going to miss a do-or-die Game 7 for the Denver Nuggets.

After testing his hamstring injury during warmups, Gordon was made available to play for the Nuggets in Sunday's Game 7 against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

According to ESPN's Shams Charnia, Gordon will be in the starting lineup for Denver.

The news comes after Charania reported that Gordon has a Grade 2 hamstring strain that will require "several weeks" of recovery time. He added that Gordon was still trying to get the green light to play Sunday.

The Athletic's Sam Amick also reported that Gordon intended to test his hamstring pregame "with the hopes of (somehow) playing."

Even if Denver advances, Gordon's recovery timeline raises doubts about his availability for the Western Conference finals against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Charania said his playoffs could be over entirely.

The 6'8" forward has been an effective secondary scorer behind Nikola Jokić this postseason. Through 13 games, he's averaging 16.8 points and shooting 38.2 percent from beyond the arc. In the first round, he was in the right place at the right time to clean up a miss by Jokić and win Game 4 against the Los Angeles Clippers.

With Gordon battling a hamstring strain, the pressure is on Michael Porter Jr. even more to deliver.

Porter is dealing with his own injury (left shoulder sprain), but it hasn't been serious enough to take him out of action altogether. Over the last three contests, he has combined to score 15 points on 6-of-23 shooting, and that's not good enough for a player making almost $36 million.

"We've played well enough to win the last two games," Porter told reporters ahead of Game 6. "A lot of the reason we lost is because I'm not helping contribute. And that’s tough. That's really tough. I'm looking at myself individually and how I can try to help the team win, because I haven't been doing that. I haven't been contributing in any way right now."

While the Nuggets came out on top Thursday night, Porter's production didn't improve. He had 10 points, four rebounds, one steal and one block in 29 minutes.

While Gordon is available to play, the Nuggets will still need MPJ to step up in order to punch their ticket to the next round.