Adding a potential all-star to a team on a seven-game winning streak? It sounds like a plan with no downside.
But Nuggets coach George Karl has done his best to temper expectations about Marcus Camby’s return to the lineup tonight against the Los Angeles Clippers. Camby has missed the past 15 games with a broken pinkie.
It’s not that Karl isn’t welcoming back the player he calls his defensive security blanket. But basketball math does not say that with Camby the Nuggets are automatically 16 points and 13 rebounds better, either, though those are Camby’s season averages.
The time it took to integrate Kenyon Martin back into the lineup remains fresh in Karl’s mind.
“Most of it’s exciting,” Karl said of Camby’s return. “But there’s going to be a fitting-in process. There’s going to be a conditioning process. We’ve done that with Kenyon, and now we’ll have to do that with Marcus.”
Camby and his teammates are less concerned. Camby watched Martin, Carmelo Anthony and the rest of his team go 11-2 this month and expects the wins to keep coming.
“I don’t think the chemistry’s going to be messed up, but I’m not going to force anything on the offensive end,” Camby said. “I think guys are into a good rhythm. With me coming back, it can only relieve some of the pressure that Carmelo’s been receiving with double- and triple-teams.”
Point guard Andre Miller added: “Defensively it’s going to work out. I think he’s going to work his way back into everything.”
Karl will probably limit Camby to about 25 minutes to start and increase his playing time as quickly as possible. He averaged 33.6 minutes before having to sit out.
“I’m still going to try to be a menace on the defensive end with my rebounding and shot-blocking ability,” Camby said. “I expect something to be lacking. It’ll probably be my offense getting into a nice, good rhythm.
“But as I get better on the defensive end, my offense will come.”
Before the injury, Camby had been on course for a career-best offensive year, largely because of a more consistent 20-foot jump shot from the top of the key. He said he’s shooting pain-free now, but before doctors removed the pins from his hand last week he had to alter his shot.
But he insisted of his jumper: “It’s still lethal. It’s still going in.”
If Camby is to make his first all-star team, however, defense would get him there.
He’s second in the NBA in blocked shots at 3.1 per game. And while he is perceived to be in a two-man race with Utah’s Mehmet Okur to back up Houston’s runaway vote-getter Yao Ming for Western Conference center, Yao’s season-long foot injury could open the door for both Camby and Okur.
Camby is counting on the Western coaches he faced before his injury to remember his game when voting on reserves. He has six games to make a name for himself again between now and the Feb. 8 selection. But it’s not his primary concern.
“Right now my concentration’s on getting back on the court and making sure we can win our division and get into the playoffs,” he said. “If (making the All-Star Game) can happen, it would be a great honor for the organization, but it’s not anything I’m going to push for.”
The transition may take a few days, but Karl understands Camby can help his team pull further ahead in the Northwest Division race.
The Nuggets have outrebounded only seven of 13 opponents this month, something Camby can help turn around.
“I don’t think Marcus is ever going to change,” Karl said. “He plays with such a passion for the game. You just have to observe his catches.”
Staff writer Adam Thompson can be reached at 303-820-5447 or athompson@denverpost.com.
