Orlando, Fla. – If nothing else, Nuggets guard Voshon Lenard certainly was fresh when he took the court Saturday. His previous game was Nov. 30, in a loss to New Orleans/Oklahoma City, where Lenard earned a team suspension for refusing to enter late.
Lenard missed three more games beyond his suspension and has appeared in only 11 of 21 games this season. But Saturday he shot 6-for-12 for 14 points in nearly 21 minutes.
Coach George Karl praised Lenard but suggested that with better ball movement, the guard could have had an even better chance to aid Denver’s failed comeback.
“I’m glad he responded well and played pretty well. But I was just hoping to get some 3s in a catch-up situation,” Karl said. Lenard hit 2-of-6 3-pointers.
With Lenard drawing minutes, guard DerMarr Johnson sat for the second straight game.
Martin’s missed
Not having an all-star in the lineup would seem to be a bad thing. That finally proved true Saturday in the case of the Nuggets. After falling to Orlando on Saturday, the Nuggets are 6-1 without power forward Kenyon Martin, who continues to bounce in and out of the lineup with tendinitis in his left knee.
“There’s a camaraderie, spirit to our team to overachieve and overcome, which is a great talent to have,” coach George Karl said of that stat. “But you also need a lot of talent to be a great team. Kenyon is a very talented player that we need.”
Added forward Carmelo Anthony: “We always miss Kenyon, regardless of what game it is. Even though we won (Friday) night, we missed Kenyon (Friday) night.”
The Nuggets play at Charlotte on Tuesday, but Martin could not predict whether he would be back by then.
As for his team’s play without him, he said, “That’s a good thing, that means somebody’s stepped up. They’ve been playing well. That’s what they’re expected to do.”
Long and short of it
The NBA appears to have little sympathy for those fined for having their shorts too long, including Denver’s Andre Miller, Johnson and Lenard. The three are among those the league fined $10,000 for a third violation of the policy, which says shorts must not drop below the knee. The first violation draws a warning, the second a fine to the team, and the third a fine to the team and offending player. The Nuggets were fined $50,000.
The NBA Players Association is appealing on behalf of players fined for long shorts.
Footnotes
The Nuggets could send rookie guard Julius Hodge to their minor-league affiliate in Austin, Texas, as soon as after their game with the Bobcats, Karl said, though they may wait until after Christmas to make the move. Hodge made his second appearance of the season Saturday, playing the game’s final four minutes, scoring his first career basket on a fast-break, left-handed layup. He finished with four points. “It felt good to finally get out there on the court and be able to contribute,” he said. … The Magic played without regulars Grant Hill (hernia), Keyon Dooling (inflamed right plantar fascia) and Kelvin Cato (sprained right ankle).
