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WASHINGTON, D.C. — Nuggets center Jonas Valanciunas will return from a right calf strain and play in Denver’s game Thursday against the Wizards.
Valanciunas, 33, missed 11 games. Starting center Nikola Jokic remains out with a left knee injury, but he traveled with the team for the start of its three-game road trip and went through a pregame shooting routine in Washington with a sleeve over his left leg.
While the Nuggets wait for Jokic to return, Valanciunas will play limited minutes.
“(He helps us) impacting the paint — the offensive rebounding, able to wall up at the rim defensively,” coach David Adelman said. “Allows us to get back to, defensively, what we’ve been doing early in the year as opposed to lately with all these guys out. So it’ll be great to have him back. … Another body is such a big deal for us right now with the guys being worn down a little bit.”
Injured wings Cam Johnson and Christian Braun also traveled with the team.
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Bennett Durando
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