NEW ORLEANS — Tonight’s game is sort of big.
If the Nuggets win Game 4, they’ll head back to snowy Denver up 3-1 and if they lose, man, it’s a 2-2 series with the Nuggets on a two-game losing streak.
Such is life in the playoffs, but at today’s shootaround, coach George Karl sensed confidence from his troops – “I trust my team,” he said at New Orleans Arena.
“If we play with energy and intensity of Games 1 and 2, we don’t have to change…the mental game of playoff basketball is always the thing a coach never knows – it’s the challenge of our character, challenge of our pride, to see if we want to be big-time or not.”
Karl brought up a number of points heading into tonight’s Game 4 (6:30 p.m. Mountain):
“There’s not many 7-8 men on the defense plan – they’re working very hard to keep him off the boards,” Karl said. “Some of their rotations to force me maybe to play smaller than I want to play all the time, but Chris will have a similar opportunity he’s had all along. We’re not going to change anything up.”
Benjamin Hochman: 303-954-1294 or bhochman@denverpost.com
