NEW YORK (AP) — Aaron Gordon and Christian Braun are returning from lengthy injury absences Sunday in Brooklyn, bringing good news to a Denver team desperate for healthy bodies after the loss of Nikola Jokic.

Coach David Adelman said both players showed improvements in recent days and would test themselves during warmups. The Nuggets then said both players were available.

“We’ve had a good 48 hours, those two guys. Thank God,” Adelman said. “So we could use the bodies.”

Gordon has missed the last 19 games with a strained right hamstring. The starting forward hasn't played since a brief appearance on Nov. 21.

Braun started the first 11 games of the season before spraining his left ankle. He hasn't played since Nov. 12.

Adelman said both players likely would have their minutes limited.

But Denver would take them for however long they could play after a nightmarish injury stretch that included losing Jokic, the three-time NBA MVP, and Jonas Valanciunas, his backup.

Jokic hyperextended his left knee Monday in Miami and will miss at least four weeks before he is evaluated again. Valanciunas strained his right calf in his first start after that and also could miss a month.

The Nuggets won in Toronto in their first game without Jokic, and Adelman was encouraged by their effort in a loss in Cleveland on Friday.

“But we were right there and that’s the whole point of this, is just try to get through this month, win enough games that you wake up in February and go, ‘Hey, we’re still in the top six or whatever it may be,’” Adelman said.

“So it’s just survival mode and this group as a bunch of veteran guys understand that. They understand what it means to just find a way to win a few games a week and just go from there.”

For the Nets, Michael Porter Jr. returned from a two-game illness absence to start against the team he helped lead to the 2023 NBA championship before he was traded to Brooklyn for Cam Johnson last summer. Johnson is still sidelined with a right knee injury.

___

AP NBA: https://www.apnews.com/hub/NBA