Peyton Watson (hamstring) latest injury for Nuggets

NEW YORK — The Denver Nuggets have, unfortunately, gotten used to playing without injured teammates this season.

And, while Wednesday night’s thrilling 134-127 victory in double overtime for the New York Knicks over the Nuggets at Madison Square Garden was a wildly entertaining affair, the lingering impact of it for Denver will be another injury that appears headed for an extended absence, a hamstring injury for forward Peyton Watson that forced him to leave in the fourth quarter.

“Waiting to see the MRI,” Nuggets coach David Adelman said postgame when asked about Watson’s injury. “But just seeing so much of this this year. I just feel bad for the guys in the locker room.

“It’s deflating when you keep seeing people go down around you when you’re trying to build towards something.”

Watson, who didn’t speak to reporters postgame, had 10 points and 5 rebounds before exiting with 8:30 to go in the fourth quarter. His injury comes after a torrid run of form over the past several weeks as he’s been a consistent starter in place of Aaron Gordon, who missed several weeks with a hamstring injury of his own that he recently aggravated.

Since the start of 2026, Watson has been playing the best basketball of his career, averaging 21.4 points, 5.3 rebounds, 2.9 assists, 1.1 steals and 1.6 blocks per game for Denver, which has also dealt with injuries to three-time MVP Nikola Jokic, starting guard Christian Braun and backup center Jonas Valanciunas this season in addition to Gordon’s lingering absences.

“It’s just the next iteration,” Adelman said. “We’ll have to re-evaluate the starting lineup, re-evaluate the rotation, get ourselves to the break and take a long, long rest.”

There certainly will be a need for the team’s two All-Stars, Jokic and Jamal Murray, to take a break after this one, after Murray had 39 points in 48 minutes and Jokic had a 30-point triple-double in 45 minutes of action.

In his first three games back from missing a month with a bone bruise in his knee, Jokic had played 24, 29 and 32 minutes for Denver, but said that he felt good after seeing his minutes go flying up Wednesday night when the game stretched into double overtime.

“I feel good,” Jokic said. “I don’t feel any tiredness … I think we have a muscle memory in my body [when we come back from injury]. We are used to playing.”

They’ll now, however, have to again adjust to playing without another key contributor in Watson.

“Another guy has to step up,” Jokic said. “It’s a quote, it’s a phrase, but it’s really like that. So we need to be prepared.

“Every guy needs to accept the role and give something to us. Don’t be out there and be passive, be aggressive. … When you’re out there, just play hard.”

Watson’s injury wasn’t the only one Denver suffered Wednesday, as two-way forward Spencer Jones — who hit his games limit Wednesday night and will need to be converted once Denver clears a roster spot by Thursday’s trade deadline — also left the game to be checked out for a concussion after clashing heads with Karl-Anthony Towns when New York’s All-Star center tried to drive to the basket in the first half.

Towns would leave to stop the bleeding from his forehead before eventually returning to the game and fouling out after putting up 24 points and 12 rebounds in 31 minutes Wednesday. But it was Jalen Brunson who stole the show, and the game, for the Knicks, scoring 10 points in the second overtime and finishing with 42 points, 8 rebounds and 9 assists to power New York to an eighth straight victory.

“That’s what an MVP candidate does,” Knicks coach Mike Brown said. “On a big stage, on a back to back, he showed why again he should be mentioned as one of the first guys, if anybody is talking about MVP candidates, he should be one of the first ones mentioned.”