As if he were making up for lost time, about 90 minutes to be exact, Nuggets forward Kenyon Martin was raging and ravenous right out of the gate Monday night, snatching six rebounds in the first quarter alone.
Martin missed the previous three games because of a strained lower back. He was rested and back in the lineup against the Rockets. But for all his rebounding, his defense is what Denver missed most.
“He has a way of making things work,” Nuggets coach George Karl said, “such as our switching, our post defense, our ability to move and change up different looks by putting him on different offensive players. All that versatility went out the window and it seemed like we were trying to plug holes too much.”
Alas, Martin’s back started acting up once again and he didn’t play in the fourth quarter. He didn’t know for sure if he would play Wednesday.
Battier fan.
For basketball junkies, Houston’s Shane Battier is sort of a cult hero. He digs defense. He happily hustles. And he’s not out there to score points, but to keep his defender from scoring. He was glorified this year in a New York Times Magazine cover story, detailing his defensive importance.
“I call him Mr. Fundamental,” Karl said. “He’s one of these guys who can play a game without a mistake on the defensive end of the court. You can score on him, but he doesn’t make a mistake. I tell players all the time: You can play the defensive end of the court perfect, you can’t play the offensive end perfect. If you challenge every shot, and they make them, that’s part of basketball.”
Looking forward.
Karl predicted it would take “52, 53” wins for a team to have home-court advantage in the Western Conference playoffs. Last season, the team with the West’s fourth-best record had 55 wins.
Benjamin Hochman, The Denver Post
