San Antonio – Eduardo Najera has been waiting for his coach’s green light to play in Game 1 of Denver’s playoff series tonight against San Antonio, and he appears to have it.
Before the Nuggets left Saturday for Texas, George Karl said he has seen enough to let the forward play with a broken bone in his right hand.
“He bricked a couple of jump shots,” Karl teased. “But right now I think he wants to be out there, and somewhere along the way I will give him a couple of minutes.”
Wearing padding on his shooting hand, Najera said, “Every day it gets better. I can move it a little bit better. Obviously painkillers are working pretty good. I think I can go.”
Karl also is weighing his options in light of news that the Spurs’ Rasho Nesterovic (sprained left ankle) and Devin Brown (back) likely will miss Game 1, cutting into coach Gregg Popovich’s depth.
“I talked (Saturday) morning with my staff on how I want to play my bench,” he said. “I don’t know. It’s not going to be determined until (tonight).”
Karl said he would do what it takes to keep the pace fast with the goal of stealing one of the first two games.
“The good thing is I think we’re playing at a higher level of success lately,” he said. “Confidence is part of the game. Right now we’re probably a team that has some confidence. They have confidence because of their experience.
“But they don’t have confidence because of how they’ve played the last couple of weeks.”
Gone in 30 minutes
Tickets for Game 3 of the series in Denver sold out in seven minutes Saturday. It took another eight minutes for Game 4 and another 15 for Game 6, after which point only single tickets remained, according to Kroenke Sports executive vice president and chief marketing officer Paul Andrews.
“That’d be an all-time record,” said Andrews, who has spent 15 years with the Nuggets. “I don’t remember (a push) even back around ’94 or ’95.”
Footnotes
A story in The Cleveland Plain Dealer listed Nuggets general manager Kiki Vandeweghe among candidates as a possible replacement for GM Jim Paxson with the Cavaliers. Vandeweghe is under contract and would not be expected to have interest in the job. … Vandeweghe spent Thursday and Friday at the NBA Board of Governors meeting.
