At the Nuggets’ shootaround today, in anticipation of tonight’s Game 2 against New Orleans, coach George Karl brought up a handful of key points to his players, looking to go up 2-0 before heading down south.
The Nuggets must defend the corner 3-pointer better. “We’ve got to be able to rotate a lot quicker,” center Chris Andersen said. The Hornets have two sharpshooters in Peja Stojakovic and Rasual Butler, and either guy can change the flow of a game with the 3-ball. “The corner 3 hurt us in Game 1,” Karl said. “And that’s one thing we felt we could do a better job of not getting tricked on. I think the guys saw that on video. I think a lot of the adjustments is where they’re going to send their pick-and-rolls from. They’ll tinker with their offensive positioning.”
Denver cannot let up with its low-post presence. Center Nene did a nice job on Tyson Chandler, who’s ankle is ailing. But Denver must “control” the paint, and Karl said rebound at a high level in all four quarters — not just the fourth quarter, as sometimes happened in the regular season.
The Nuggets must continue to keep Chris Paul from getting into the paint and getting “cute baskets,” as Karl called them. On the assist man, Karl said: “He can throw the bounce pass through three (peoples’) legs and he can throw the lob. We want to keep them at a minimal.”
“You watch playoff basketball — great players have a way of having great games. And we’re playing against a special player. ”
The Nuggets also have learned from watching other series, when teams that were blown out in Game 1 came back to win Game 2, notably the Western Conference’s Spurs and Trail Blazers.
“How I see it on TV, the teams who play in the second game play with a lot of energy and a lot of anger,” Nene said. “I have an idea of how (the Hornets) are going to come tonight.”
Benjamin Hochman: 303-954-1294 or bhochman@denverpost.com
