AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — For most people, the left pinkie finger’s most-important function is typing “A.”
But Kenyon Martin is an NBA power forward, so it’s a bigger deal than for someone trying to type “Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.”
The thing hurts, which caused Martin to miss Thursday’s game, his second straight.
“I made some progress over the last couple days — I’m trying to not have any setbacks,” Martin said. “It’s still sensitive to touch. And you can’t really bend it all the way. It’s still attached though.”
Martin is arguably Denver’s top defender, and the team will surely need him in the next game, Saturday’s matchup against the high-scoring Phoenix Suns.
“That’s what I’m going to shoot for,” Martin said, “but if I’m not ready, I’m not ready.”
In his place, coach George Karl started Joey Graham, another defensive- minded forward who had a nice little offensive run in the Nuggets’ Tuesday loss at Charlotte, when he scored eight points, six in a third-quarter splurge.
“It’s the start of something that could be a positive thing for me,” Graham said of the increased playing time. “My main focus is playing defense, hustling, getting some rebounds and knocking down shots when guys double on Chauncey (Billups) and Carmelo (Anthony).”
Thursday night, Graham played 18 minutes and had four points, no rebounds and one steal against the Pistons.
“Anything can happen, as we see,” said Martin, looking down at his injured pinkie. “So to get him out there, to get him some minutes, get him accustomed to playing with guys, is huge.”
All-star starter?
The NBA released its first all-star voting results, and Anthony leads all Western Conference forwards with 588,958 votes, followed by Dirk Nowitzki (366,300) and Tim Duncan (271,321). The starters, voted by the fans, will be announced Jan. 21, and the reserves, voted by NBA coaches, will be announced Jan. 28. Nene is third among centers, but nearly 350,000 votes behind current leader Amar’e Stoudemire. Billups, Denver’s lone all-star last season, is eighth in the guard voting.
Benjamin Hochman, The Denver Post
