Nuggets rule out Aaron Gordon for elimination Game 5 vs. Timberwolves, who will be without Anthony Edwards, Donte DiVincenzo

DENVER — The Denver Nuggets will be without a key piece while facing elimination Monday night. Aaron Gordon has been ruled out for Game 5 against the Minnesota Timberwolves with calf tightness. The Nuggets announced his status after pregame warmups.

Gordon was previously listed as questionable and ended up as a true game-time decision. Gordon sustained the injury in Game 2 of the series and missed Game 3. He returned to play limited minutes in Game 4 Saturday, but won’t be able to play on Monday.

“This has been a crushing moment for him to have this happen two years in a row. ,” head coach David Adelman said in his pregame news conference. “Obviously he wasn’t himself the other night and still gave us decent minutes in the first half.

I thought his body started to break down a bit in the second half. “ The Nuggets won Game 1 with Gordon in the lineup, but have since lost three straight as the Timberwolves have taken a 3-1 series lead. Gordon is arguably Denver’s third-most important player behind three-time MVP Nikola Jokić and All-Star Jamal Murray.