PHOENIX — Injuries keep loitering in the Nuggets’ locker room. They’re not decimating Denver’s season by any means, not demanding long-term absences from affected players. But they are overstaying their welcome, lingering and quietly looming over most games and unleashing inconvenient warning signs. Like the one Aaron Gordon received from his calf for Christmas. It was the third quarter in Phoenix, and the Nuggets trailed the Suns 70-68 in what had been a flawed but fun NBA nightcap. Then, after powering his way to a layup, Gordon appeared uncomfortable running the floor. Phoenix scored, Michael Malone called a timeout, and Gordon veered off away from the huddle, shaking his head and planting himself at the end of the bench for a word with team trainers. He was done for the night. Malone is hopeful that he will be available Friday against Cleveland. But in Phoenix, rebounds started slipping away from the Nuggets, and so did the game. For the first time in three years, they got a lump of coal. Gordon missed a 10-game stretch earlier this season already with a calf strain. Calf strains don’t go away so easily. “Thats the unfortunate thing — and the Suns have gone through this themselves — with those soft tissue injuries, is they linger. They hang around. They hang around,” Malone said. “And you make one explosive move and you feel it. And I could tell in that third quarter, he goes, ‘I feel like it’s about to, like, really have a bad strain.’ So that was the decision at that point in time. Take him out, get him checked and shut him down for the night to hopefully avoid something a lot more sinister and severe.” The 110-100 result Wednesday felt more like an anomaly than Denver’s other 11 losses. Defense was mostly sufficient. Offense was not. The Nuggets forgot how to pass the ball accurately. “Was it a problem last game?” Peyton Watson asked rhetorically, and astutely. “It was a weird game,” Malone acknowledged. “I’d look up and we were down by two points, and I’m like, ‘We’re not even playing well, and we’re still in this game.'” Throw in the Gordon injury, and this was atypical enough as to almost be a throwaway for the Nuggets. Almost. But there was at least one element of the game that aligned with a season-long trend. Sure enough, it involves an injury-nagged player. The Nuggets are 8-1 this season when Jamal Murray attempts 17 or more field goals. They are 3-9 when he plays and attempts 16 or fewer. He took shots at the volume of a role player on Christmas, finishing 4 for 10 with 13 points in his return from a one-game hiatus. Murray sprained his ankle last Sunday in New Orleans, causing him to miss Monday’s win and halting his recent scoring momentum. Before the latest ankle injury, he had strung together four consecutive 20-point games. The Nuggets won three of them. “I’m just trying not to use (injuries) as an excuse. Not mention it,” Murray told The Denver Post. “I know I get slack for it, but (I’m) just going out there, and if I’m good enough to play, I play. That’s how I look at it.” In other words: If Murray thinks an injured body part is “good enough” to suit up, then the very act of playing sacrifices his excuse-eligibility. But if he is going to play while “good enough” but nonetheless banged up, that can’t preclude him from being assertive with the ball. The Nuggets need him to shoot. “It’s on us to screen him. It’s on him to, like me, get to the spot and to be aggressive,” Nikola Jokic said. “And it’s on coaching to probably call plays — it’s a little bit of everybody.” “We can space the floor better to give him more room to operate and attack,” Malone added. “Then he can always help himself.” Before it was Murray’s ankle, it was a hamstring strain that sidelined him multiple games. He also recently revealed that he’d been dealing with plantar fasciitis, a heel condition that he tells The Post “started years ago.” As for why he chose to bring it up now: “Every day you guys ask me how am I feeling, so I just threw it out there,” Murray explained. “That’s not the reason I’m missing shots or the reason why I’m not making layups or turning it over.” None of these are season-threatening injuries, but they each contribute to one of the overarching themes of Denver’s season up to this point: The Nuggets have been playing while banged up. Gordon certainly has been, if the recurring pain in his calf is any indication. Even Christian Braun battled through after briefly appearing on a team injury report for a quad issue. “I think we should have a couple wins more, record-wise, but I think we are not playing good,” Jokic told The Post. “And hopefully that can change.” Related Articles Denver Nuggets | Michael Malone happy to continue playing DeAndre Jordan at backup center while Nuggets’ second unit thrives Denver Nuggets | Nuggets’ offense gets sloppy in Christmas Day loss to Phoenix Suns Denver Nuggets | NBA on Christmas Day 2024: Here is the schedule and how to watch Denver Nuggets | Michael Porter Jr. reacts to trade rumors amid Zach LaVine smoke: “I don’t take it personally” Denver Nuggets | Nikola Jokic, Michael Porter Jr. lead Nuggets to blowout win over Suns to finish back-to-back And what does Murray think of the team’s current footing? “Good. We’re good. We’ve got some kinks to work out,” he said. “I think every team does in December. But we know what we’re capable of, and when we’re playing well, it’s really good.” Many of those kinks are strains and sprains. Want more Nuggets news? Sign up for the Nuggets Insider to get all our NBA analysis.