The nearly inevitable happened Sunday. Forward Kenyon Martin, still not all the way back from offseason left knee surgery, missed his first game of the season against Minnesota.
Martin said he didn’t know how long he would sit.
“We’re just going by the day, man,” he said.
Denver general manager Kiki Vandeweghe said Martin’s absence does not increase the urgency to bring in another big man, even with forward Nene likely out for the season with a right knee injury.
“Hopefully it’s just one game. Everybody misses games,” Vandeweghe said of Martin. The GM added that doctors hope by the season’s two-month mark, the forward’s pain will decrease.
As for now, Nuggets coach George Karl said the team would remain conservative.
“His knee’s very sore,” Karl said. “How he manages it, how we manage it will probably be a personality of the season for at least a couple weeks.”
Martin underwent microfracture surgery this offseason, though the procedure was not on the magnitude of similar surgeries for Chris Webber and Jason Kidd.
Still, Karl said: “The issue to me is very scary. Every one of them. I saw Jason Kidd not being the same player in his first year back. I’ve seen a lot of guys where it just doesn’t seem like it gets back the first. The first time they don’t get a feel for it or a comfort zone. You just have to help them through.”
The Nuggets started Francisco Elson in Martin’s place and also dressed rookie guard Julius Hodge, who played in his first game, coming in for the final 11.8 seconds. Karl also started DerMarr Johnson instead of Voshon Lenard, citing a need for more “speed and tempo,” and because the Nuggets went 28-12 with Johnson in the starting lineup last season. Karl emphasized he was not punishing Lenard and that two-guard remains a “committee.”
Footnotes
Nikoloz Tskitishvili, a Nuggets 2002 first-round draft pick, returned to Denver with Minnesota, though he was inactive. Wolves coach Dwane Casey said he sees a more athletic, better-passing version of Seattle forward Vladimir Radmanovic, but the 7-foot forward has been hindered by the strong play of Eddie Griffin at the same position.
After rarely playing in his three seasons in Denver, Tskitishvili considered playing in Europe before Minnesota gave him a two-year deal (with a team option on the second year). He said if “this goes wrong like the last (three) years, I don’t think it’s going to be smart” to stay in the NBA.
“He told me so honestly that he was going to play me, that this is going to be my year,” Tskitishvili said of Casey. …
Minnesota guard Rashad McCants was ejected with his second technical foul of the game after dunking over Nugget Marcus Camby and taunting him in the fourth quarter.
“I guess he was yapping too much,” Camby said. “He got a nice little dunk, but that’s how rookies are. They don’t know any better.”
Adam Thompson can be reached at 303-820-5447 or at athompson@denverpost.com.
