The Nuggets’ short bench reached a point Saturday where they had to stop a scrimmage for a bathroom break. With DerMarr Johnson gone, only nine healthy players remained.
Denver dressed just 10 players instead of the normal 12 against Golden State. Kenyon Martin, Eduardo Najera and Julius Hodge, who remained in a hospital after being shot early Saturday morning, joined the already injured Nene and Earl Boykins.
Denver coach George Karl said he might talk to general manager Kiki Vandeweghe about requesting an injury exception from the NBA, though he did not think the Nuggets would get one.
Martin (left knee tendinitis) missed his second consecutive game and said he did not know whether he would play Tuesday at Portland. Najera wore a boot on his right foot. Without the boot, he said, he could put little pressure on his foot.
A MRI test Friday revealed a compression fracture of the cuboid bone in the middle of Najera’s foot. Athletic trainer Jim Gillen said the injury was not serious, joking that in the days before MRIs, the foot would simply be described as “sore.” Najera will be re-evaluated in a week, but should be ready when the playoffs begin April 22.
Meanwhile, the Warriors went without stars Baron Davis (sprained right ankle) and Jason Richardson (right knee).
Time for playoff tickets
The Nuggets will place playoff tickets on sale Monday at 5:30 p.m. at the Pepsi Center box office and through Ticketmaster. Although home-court advantage has not been decided, the team will sell tickets for four potential first-round games.
As for the regular season, the Nuggets entered Saturday ranked 15th in the NBA in attendance, with 17,090 fans per home game. Denver ranked 12th in each of the two previous seasons, with averages of 17,657 – a team record – in 2004-05 and 17,596 in 2003-04, according to ESPN.com.
Kroenke Sports executive vice president Paul Andrews attributed the decline to fewer high-profile weekend games, more late national television starts and the fact that there is less money in the marketplace with the Avalanche returned from the NHL lockout.
Andrews said the Nuggets would send out forms for 2006-07 season tickets within the next couple of weeks.
