Eduardo Najera and Francisco Elson are not allowed to get hurt right now.
Perhaps later in the season they can let pain get the better of them. But as the Nuggets’ last two relatively healthy big men in coach George Karl’s rotation, they have no choice these days.
“We don’t have anybody else,” Elson said. “You see the lineup. … Guys are getting hurt left and right. But we just have to fight through it. That’s why we get paid to do what we do. We have to sacrifice our own body.”
Indeed, Denver has somehow stayed at .500 despite the recent absence of defensive rock Marcus Camby, the intermittent appearance of recovering power forward Kenyon Martin and the season-long loss of Nene.
Karl sometimes uses a lineup of four guards, something more suited for a video game. The coach doesn’t know where the team would be without its pair of unheralded reserves picking up the rebounding slack or keeping the pick-and-roll coverage solid.
“They’re above and beyond and overachieving, playing like starters a lot,” Karl said. “I’m really proud of them. They’re very serious. They know it’s a tough challenge to play great players every night. They’ve put in the mental focus.”
With extra time, each has seen his numbers climb. In the eight games since Camby suffered a broken finger, Najera has averaged 8.1 rebounds and 7.4 points while Elson has contributed 7.6 points and 6.4 rebounds.
Elson chalks his success up to the rhythm that comes with starter’s minutes. He plays more but fouls less, works hard underneath and keeps offenses honest with his jump shot. He may still lack offensive polish, but other Nuggets have noticed his surge in confidence, especially with a 20-foot jumper most 7-footers couldn’t stroke.
“Frisco’s always had a good jumper,” Karl said. “It’s more mental than anything. Now he knows that he’s going to get four or five of them a game.”
Najera’s baskets more often stem from offensive rebounds or layups with a defender’s elbow in his back than set plays. The Nuggets sent Rodney White, who is out of the league, and Nikoloz Tskitishvili, who has played 11 minutes for Minnesota this season, to Golden State for a forward who is finishing games for them.
Asked if he thought the trade was a steal, Denver guard Greg Buckner said: “Definitely. No disrespect to Rodney and Skita, but they wasn’t playing at the time. Eddie’s always a guy who’s going to do all the dirty work. To win in this league, you’ve got to have guys like that.”
Karl would like to see Najera and Elson score a bit more, but Najera does not want to feel added pressure with his teammates out, get too happy and take more shots.
“As long as you’re solid and you bring something to the team every night and you do something positive, you’ll be fine,” Najera said. “It’s not necessarily about scoring points. It’s about rebounds. It’s about charges, blocks, steals. Getting more stops.”
Both players seem content to keep doing what they’re doing without overanalyzing the improvement that comes with extra court time.
“When I come in and do the stuff that I’m doing right now, it just boosts his ego, my ego and the team’s ego,” Elson said.
Staff writer Adam Thompson can be reached at 303-820-5447 or athompson@denverpost.com.
