David Adelman is not going to get his wish.

A few weeks ago, the Nuggets coach hoped his team would be at full strength for the final 20 games of the regular season. The Nuggets will be without three forwards for Thursday’s game against the Lakers, Denver’s 63^rd of the 82-game regular season.

Aaron Gordon, Peyton Watson and Spencer Jones will not play against Los Angeles. Gordon and Watson are dealing with right hamstring strains, while Jones will miss a third straight game with a right shoulder strain. Gordon hasn’t played since Jan. 23.

“The longer you can wait the better with a soft tissue injury. The more stress you can put on it daily to find his comfort level and our comfort level allows us to have more confidence he can come back and play in games,” Adelman said of Gordon. “This is not like a warmup. He has to play full speed as we’re trying to win as many games as we can to get to the end here. It’s a high-stress thing on his body. We want to make sure he’s ready for it.”

Watson has been out since Feb. 4. Adelman said Gordon did more at Wednesday’s practice than Watson. Gordon played some of Denver’s player-development coaches one-on-one after practice. Watson was spotted jogging on a treadmill but did not do any on-court work while the gym was open to the media.

The Nuggets could be without a fourth forward, as Cam Johnson is questionable with right ankle inflammation.

Maxi Kleber, questionable with back soreness, is the only player on the Lakers’ injury report.