According to Nuggets coach George Karl, Nene could be out the entire week with a right knee bone bruise. If that is the case, the Nuggets will have to figure out a way to score from the post, rebound and find inside toughness without him.
Monday, in a 38-point loss to the Celtics, they had none of that. Nene is the Nuggets’ only “classic” back-to-the-basket big man. He posts up and scores from the block and is a physical presence down low.
The Nuggets expect to make up for his ability to score from the block in a number of ways, in part by mixing post-ups from Carmelo Anthony, Kenyon Martin and Chauncey Billups.
Karl has additional ideas.
“I don’t know if I emphasize post scoring so much as paint scoring,” Karl said. “I think that’s more important to me, how we score around the basket. (Nene) gave us a lot of dimensions there. But I think you can do it by pick-and-rolls, you can do it by penetrations and hopefully running the court a little bit more.”
In Monday night’s game against the Celtics, Nene’s loss was evident as the Nuggets were pushed around in the paint.
“They were more physical than us,” Karl said.
After an MRI revealed no structural damage, Karl said the team will evaluate Nene’s progress “in a couple of days” and determine his availability for Friday’s game against the Los Angeles Lakers.
Since Karl is a stickler for bench continuity, Johan Petro started Monday and played well with nine points, 10 rebounds and two blocked shots in 21 minutes. Chris Andersen reprised his role off the bench.
“I think (Petro) shows he deserves and has skills to be on an NBA court,” Karl said.
Petro said he would not put more pressure on himself to fill Nene’s shoes.
“I’m definitely not Nene,” Petro said. “Nene is having a real good year. I’m going to keep it simple.”
Footnotes.
Asked if the Nuggets expect to add a player to the roster such as guard Sam Cassell or forward Mikki Moore, Karl said: “I don’t know. Ask (vice president of basketball operations) Mark (Warkentien) or (vice president of player personnel) Rex (Chapman). I don’t want to get in trouble.” . . . Anthony received his Olympic ring in a ceremony before the game. He averaged 11 points for Team USA, which won the gold medal in Beijing.
Chris Dempsey: 303-954-1279 or cdempsey@denverpost.com
