Peyton Watson jokes altitude ‘kicked my butt’ in return from injury

Considering the season Peyton Watson was having earlier than he injured his hamstring in Februaryhe had massive sneakers to fill final weekend — his personal.

Even after they obtained to be too massive, he was unfazed. Accidentally slipping out of his proper sneaker in the course of the fourth quarter Sunday, Watson shortly retrieved it from the court docket, discarded it towards the sideline and stored enjoying on a flat tire. The ball discovered him instantly. He let it fly from the highest of the important thing, an off-target 3-point try that additionally made for a related metaphor.

Don’t anticipate Watson’s self-assurance to be shaken by any uniform malfunctions or different rising pains that happen because the Nuggets reassimilate him into their system.

“I feel like I’m right back where I was six weeks ago,” he mentioned after his first sport again from a proper hamstring pressure. “The confidence is there. Everything is there. Handle was a little loose tonight. I was winded. The altitude kicked my butt. But I think other than that, everything else is amazing. … I have complete confidence in my game.”

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Watson was imperfect however impactful in his return. He contributed 14 factors, six rebounds and three assists to a 128-112 win over the Trail Blazers. Three of his 13 discipline purpose makes an attempt did not contact the rim as he tried to shoot his means again into the rhythm he had established in January, when he was enjoying the most effective basketball of his life.

So a lot has modified since then. Watson was an emblem of the Nuggets’ resilience throughout a month with out Nikola Jokic. His emergence as a viable ball-in-hand playmaker — set towards the backdrop of his impending restricted free company — has been one of many defining tales of the season in Denver. While he was out, the Nuggets slipped into the standings. Their many accidents lastly wore on them — significantly his and Aaron Gordon’s.

“I think it’s good to get punched in the mouth sometimes,” Watson mentioned. “I think that we needed that. That gives us a different level of grind, a chip on our shoulders, and it gave us some humility, too, which is what you need. Especially when you’ve got a squad as well-rounded as ours. I think that you need some adversity to kind of build a team up, and I mean, that’s what this year has been.”

Getting the band again collectively

Sunday marked not solely the Nuggets’ first sport with a completely obtainable rotation since final Nov. 12, but additionally their first sport that Jokic, Gordon and Watson all performed since Nov. 22.

To describe them as totally wholesome would possibly nonetheless be a bridge too far. Gordon has but to exceed 35 minutes since returning from his hamstring injury. Watson’s minutes had been restricted to twenty towards Portland, and Christian Braun spared him from probably the most strenuous defensive task in Deni Avdija. Watson will ultimately be tasked with guarding star gamers extra usually as he ramps up on a minute restriction.

Then there’s this assertion made by Jokic.

“Like everybody, he will need some time, but it’s good to have him back,” the middle mentioned. “I think he’s gonna (need) a lot of time to get back to shape — not shape, but like playing shape. He missed a lot of time. … He did good. But I think he will need more time to get back to how he played before.”

How a lot time did Jokic really feel like he wanted after returning from his knee injury?

“Probably like three or four weeks,” he mentioned. “You think you’re back when you’re back, but you need a little bit more.”

Watson refused to concede as a lot, mentioning that he has expertise recovering from an analogous injury, not like Jokic did together with his hyperextended knee. In September 2024, Watson suffered a hamstring pressure in the identical leg throughout a exercise a couple of days earlier than coaching camp. It precipitated him to overlook all 5 of Denver’s preseason video games, however he was again for opening day of the 2024-25 common season.

“I felt good tonight. I think I’m gonna feel good in two nights. And then after that, we’ll just keep on going,” Watson mentioned Sunday when requested about Jokic urging endurance. “But also, Nikola, how long was he out? Four weeks? I don’t think he’s been out that long, maybe for his entire career? … Definitely since I’ve been here, he hasn’t been out that long. And I think with him, he’s responsible for so much that the responsibility is in his hands on whether we win or lose a lot of times. So I think when you have that much usage and that high of a responsibility, there’s definitely gonna be (more) rust that you have to shake off. But I mean, when you’re the best in the world and the first game, you come back and you get a triple-double with 30, I take that with a grain of salt.”

Still, Watson went on to clarify that the ultimate phases of his restoration felt tougher this time as a result of the injury occurred in a special area of the hamstring. He missed 19 video games throughout six weeks and alter, slightly greater than the four- to six-week timeline that Denver initially estimated.

“The first time I did it, it was in an area of ​​my hamstring that was easier to strengthen because it was more centrally located in my hamstring,” he mentioned. “This one was kind of in a weird spot that made it hard to strengthen it and kind of get back to the movement that I’m used to doing. So it definitely presented its own challenges.”

Playing his finest basketball

Among them, the timing. Watson’s injury interrupted a surge in particular person momentum. He was averaging 22.2 factors, 5.5 rebounds and a pair of.8 assists over an 18-game stretch earlier than the night time he abruptly limped off the court docket at Madison Square Garden. He was taking pictures 49.3% from the sector and 45.7% exterior the arc in that stretch. He had lately been named Western Conference Player of the Week.

“Really frustrating,” he mentioned, “especially with the groove that I had worked my way into and the basketball I was playing.”

As he recovered, consideration turned towards what his position would seem like on the opposite facet. He knew all alongside that fewer touches could be obtainable to him as soon as the unique model of the roster was again on the court docket. But the Nuggets additionally did not need to neglect what they’d found in January. Opportunities for Watson to deliver the ball up, function in the pick-and-roll or slash from the wing would not be merely to fulfill him; they might serve to assist lighten the load on different ball-handlers like Jamal Murray. Watson performed some two-man sport with Jokic when Murray was on the bench Sunday. He additionally cut up ball-handling tasks with Murray in the second unit.