The Denver Nuggets and Phoenix Suns face off in the final game of the NBA’s Christmas slate, in a duel between two rivals who have gotten to know each other very well over the past few seasons.

The Suns have the lead in the second half, and the Nuggets may have an uphill battle the rest of the way. According to Underdog NBA, starting forward Aaron Gordon has gone down with calf strain and is doubtful to return.

The Nuggets are already struggling in this game and haven’t been able to get much going outside of Nikola Jokic. Christian Braun, Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. have all struggled in different areas and now Gordon is out. If he’s not in the game, expect a player like Peyton Watson to step up towards the end of this game.

Losing Gordon would be a huge blow to the Nuggets. He’s not one of their top scorers, but Gordon does so many different things on the court for the Nuggets, and his versatility makes him extremely valuable to the Denver operation. Gordon is one of the Nuggets’ best defenders and a very good rebounder. He plays well with Jokic in the two-man game and can act as both a roller and a secondary ball-handler.

The Nuggets could really use Gordon in this matchup to defend the much larger Kevin Durant. Watson can handle the Durant job if Gordon is out, but the young UCLA product lacks some of the physicality that Gordon brings to the floor.

Calf strain is a concerning diagnosis for Gordon, who has already missed time this season with a calf strain. Hopefully this is just a precautionary measure for Denver and Gordon hasn’t re-injured his calf and can move on.