Monday’s NBA showdown between Western Conference powers has lost a lot of its luster.

Shortly before Monday’s 10 p.m. ET tipoff on ESPN, the Denver Nuggets announced that they were sitting Nikola Jokić, Jamal Murray and Christian Braun for their road game against the Golden State Warriors.

The official reason for Jokić’s absence is right elbow contusion/left ankle impingement. Murray’s out with left knee inflammation and Braun’s out with left foot inflammation.

The absences leave the Nuggets without their MVP-candidate leader in Jokić and two other starters in Murray and Braun for a matchup of two Western Conference contenders.

Braun was initially listed as probable for Monday’s game before being downgraded to questionable and then out. Jokić and Murray were both initially listed as questionable.

Christian Braun, Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokić are all out for Monday’s game. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post)

The good news for the Nuggets is that Aaron Gordon was available after missing six of the previous nine games with calf and ankle injuries.

The NBA has been active in investigating potential violations of it player participation policy and recently fined the Utah Jazz $100,000 for sidelining former All-Star Lauri Markkanen for multiple games without an approved reason. But the Jazz are in competition for the worst record in the league and the No. 1 pick in a highly anticipated NBA Draft.

The Nuggets are battling for the No. 2 seed in a competitive Western Conference. But it appears that Jokić, Murray and Braun were all apparently ailing enough that the Nuggets chose to sit them in a game with stakes for both teams.

The NBA implemented rules in 2023 targeting the load management practice of resting star players when they’re not injured. Teams are subject to fines for various violations of the policy that include prohibiting teams from sitting multiple star players in the same game when they’re not injured and resting star players during nationally televised games.