While Marcus Camby, back to the wall, answered media inquiries about the Nuggets’ defense, Nene was on the court after practice Monday, backing into a defender during one-on-one drills.
After the miserable Game 1 defense by the Nuggets against the Lakers on Sunday, it’s possible that help is on the way in the form of a 6-foot-11 Brazilian who is eager to play.
A strained right groin kept Nene out of Game 1 of the series, which Denver lost 128-114. Asked if Nene could play in Game 2 on Wednesday, coach George Karl said, “I hope so.”
The Nuggets plan to insert Nene into five- on-five drills at practice today and see how he holds up. Nene hasn’t played much all season, so his conditioning isn’t at the level of his teammates. He appeared in 16 games, missing the remainder because of a thumb injury, the removal of a testicular tumor and, most recently, a groin injury. He hasn’t played since April 5.
Nene didn’t go all out Monday at practice, but afterward he worked in one-on-one drills against assistant coach Jamahl Mosley. Then Nene worked on his free throws. For the season, Nene averaged 5.3 points and 5.4 rebounds.
Film worth watching.
The Nuggets had a productive film session Monday morning, according to Camby.
“Guys are feeling confident looking at that tape — we saw a lot of defensive mistakes that are easily corrected,” he said. “It’s all about clogging up the middle and making those guys knock down some shots.”
The Lakers ranked seventh in the NBA in points in the paint during the regular season, averaging 43.8. They had 60 points in the paint Sunday in the series opener.
“Especially when guys are getting beat, you have to rotate over,” said Camby, who guarded Pau Gasol for much of the game. “Someone has to get to my man. And that’s something we watched on film and did at practice. It’s all about adjustments.”
Smith, Kleiza get votes for award.
Denver’s J.R. Smith was sixth and teammate Linas Kleiza 11th in voting for the NBA’s sixth-man award, won by the Spurs’ Manu Ginobili (voting, 8C).
Rough and ready.
ABC cameras caught Karl on Sunday doing his traditional pregame ritual, which he described as “getting physically ready, kind of like football players before games.”
Karl and some of the support staffers line up like sumo wrestlers and bump into each other to get pumped up for the game.
“There have been some falls — I’ve gone down a couple times,” Karl said. “It might end soon, though. My hip is taking a beating.”
Benjamin Hochman, The Denver Post
