The dialing-down process began in earnest Monday night, even though Nuggets coach George Karl was hesitant to do it.
For playoff teams with nothing left to gain or lose, the last few games are a pit stop for regular season-weary players hoping to rest and recharge for the postseason. In Denver’s 122-107 victory over Minnesota at the Pepsi Center, the starters took some time off – a little bit, anyway.
“We definitely want to win every ballgame we play,” Nuggets center Marcus Camby said. “But we also want to be smart about it and be healthy going into the playoffs.”
And so they did.
Forward Carmelo Anthony and guard Allen Iverson played reduced minutes – although in Iverson’s case, not by much – giving way in large part to reserves who took over during the fourth quarter against the Timberwolves.
Anthony, who scored 21 points, said he didn’t know what to expect as far as playing time went against Minnesota or Wednesday night against San Antonio. But asked how much he wanted to play, he said: “None, really.”
He finished with 25 minutes and did not play in the fourth quarter.
Camby didn’t play at all. In fact, he didn’t even go through the morning shootaround, resting a gimpy right knee.
“My knee’s banged up, got a lot of soreness in it,” Camby said. “That’s the main reason why I’m sitting out right now. If it was the playoffs, I would definitely be out there.”
Karl is managing all of this with caution. He likes the momentum and attitude the team has gained in the past two weeks and doesn’t want a drop-off, calling it an opportunity to “not throw away the good stuff we’ve brought to the table.”
“I don’t think you mess with the game,” Karl said. “Anytime you start messing with the game, it has a way of messing back at you. So why change? We’ve been in a great role, a great rhythm. Maybe not play Melo and A.I. 40 minutes, but still play them.
“I don’t want to sit anybody. I think it’s a bad philosophy. Players can have it, but I’m just going to stand right up to them. I think it’s crazy. I think it’s better that you run down the court every day than to take days off.”
That reasoning led him to play Iverson 33 minutes. He did not remove him for good until just less than 10 minutes remained in the game.
Karl did acknowledge, however, that Wednesday’s regular-season finale against the Spurs “might be handled a little more like an exhibition.”
The Nuggets handled the Timberwolves game as if it were a glorified practice session. The plan was to run through offensive sets they want to use against the Spurs, and did what they could to prepare defensively as well.
Newly acquired guard Anthony Carter played for the first time as a Nugget, and Linas Kleiza finished with 23 points and 10 rebounds.
Staff writer Chris Dempsey can be reached at 303-954-1279 or cdempsey@denverpost.com.
