Christian Braun hated the view from the sideline. He hated wearing a hoodie on the bench. He hated the helplessness as other Nuggets teammates joined him there.
It was an unfamiliar vantage point for him. In his last six years (and change) of professional and college basketball, he had played in 394 of his teams’ 404 total games — postseasons included. Even as an unproven NBA rookie, he missed only six regular-season games and one more in the playoffs, all by the coach’s decision, not because he was injured.
He had no choice but to watch from Denver’s bench for the last seven weeks. On Nov. 12 in Los Angeles, an awkward step from the Clippers’ James Harden resulted in a freak injury for the durable Nuggets guard. It was officially listed as a left ankle sprain. After returning to the lineup on the road this week, Braun revealed that ligament damage was to blame for the lengthy recovery timeline.
“The ligaments in my ankle were ripped,” he told The Denver Post this week in New York. “So that’s what made it tough. I was in a boot for the first three weeks. I was on crutches for a couple weeks. So I couldn’t walk. … I had to get all that strength back. And it’s still a work in progress. That’s pretty clear.”
Braun missed 23 consecutive games with the injury. He played 24 minutes in his return last Sunday in Brooklyn, sat out the following game and played 29 minutes Wednesday in Boston. Nuggets coach David Adelman says his and Aaron Gordon’s playing time will gradually increase as they regain their footing. They’re both on minutes restrictions for now.
“It sucked. It’s not something I’ve dealt with,” Braun said. “It’s not something I’ve been through. The rehab process is not something I’ve been through. So it hasn’t been fun. It hasn’t been a fun two months. So I’m itching to get back out there, and I have to do it the right way. That’s the most important part. … I think I’m in a spot where I should not be behind. I’m not ahead by any means, but I feel like I attacked the rehab the right way. But it’s not fun. I’d rather be out there playing every game.”
Even in his first game back, Braun felt like his conditioning was in a good place, he said. “More importantly,” he added, “I need to be benefiting the team when I’m on the court.”
His offensive production is still catching up; he scored eight combined points on nine shots in Brooklyn and Boston. One of the best uptempo players in the league last season, he missed a pair of transition layups against the Celtics.
But he also closed that game as part of a switchable lineup that helped the Nuggets secure an impressive win. His defensive prowess is what they need most right now; they have the 29th-ranked defense in the league since he and Gordon both went down with injuries.
He returned to a rotation that’s now attempting to stay above water without Nikola Jokic, Jonas Valanciunas and Cam Johnson.
“We’ve got guys that are capable of helping us get wins through this stretch, and we will,” Braun said. “We’ll put it together. … We’ve got enough guys.”
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“It hasn’t (ever) been like this stretch. It’s hard,” he said. “And like I said, I’ve never been a part of the injured bunch. I’ve been a part on the other end, where you’re (on the court) trying to keep things afloat. But it’s tough. I don’t think any of the injuries were, like, preventable things. It was just tough breaks for a team that I feel like, especially with Jok, has been very healthy. Me, I’ve been very healthy.
“We just want to get back whole. We want to win as many games as possible until we get back whole, but once we get back whole, we know what we are, and I think everybody else knows what we are.”
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