What Is Aaron Gordon's Timeline to Return to Nuggets After Hamstring Injury?

After a disappointing 128-123 loss to the Sacramento Kings on Saturday night, the Denver Nuggets received even more bad news.

ESPN's Shams Charania reported on Sunday that Nuggets forward Aaron Gordon has been diagnosed with a Grade 2 right hamstring strain and will be re-evaluated in four to six weeks.

Gordon sat out Saturday's games after suffering the injury on Friday in a 112-109 win over the Chicago Bulls. He played just three minutes before exiting the game and didn't return.

While Gordon has been a serviceable veteran in the NBA for quite some time, he was enjoying a breakout campaign this season. He started the year off in a big way when he dropped a career-high 50 points in a loss to the Golden State Warriors in the season opener. In 13 games, he averaged a career-high 18.8 points while shooting a career-best 44.4 percent from three-point range. As Charania pointed out, he's one of just seven players to average at least 15 points on 50-40-85 shooting.

This marks another blow to a Denver starting lineup that already lost swingman Christian Braun to an ankle injury that will sideline him for at least six weeks. The loss to Sacramento dropped the team's record to 12-4, and star big man Nikola Jokic didn't hold back in his assessment of the team afterward.

Kings-Nuggets Full Highlights

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"I think that 12-4 is not the real picture. I think we are not that good. I think we need to be much better if we want to do something big," Jokic told reporters after dropping 44 points in the losing effort.

It will be up to Jokic to keep the Nuggets afloat until their lineup is whole again. Denver will be back in action on Monday against the Memphis Grizzlies (6-11).