PORTLAND, Ore. — Chauncey Billups sat at his locker 90 minutes before tipoff, when George Karl approached him and said, “Ready to go?”
“Yes, sir,” Billups said, matter-of-factly.
“Thank you,” the coach said.
It was a fitting gift on this particular day of the year. Billups was back after missing three games due to a strained left groin.
“He’s our motor,” Karl said of the all-star guard. “The best way to get him into the game is from the starting position. He’s had a couple of good days. It’s one of these situations where if he’s healthy, he’ll get back into it pretty quickly.”
Billups decided to sit out the second half of Friday night’s game just to be cautious with his injury. He finished with 10 points and five assists.
Billups is second on the Nuggets this season with 17.4 points per game, while leading the team with 5.7 assists. The Nuggets went 1-2 without Billups, the lone win coming against Atlanta, an impressive victory on Wednesday at the Pepsi Center.
Billups was in the holiday spirit, wearing custom-made Christmas shoes, white with red and green trim and snowflake designs on them. Billups wasn’t the only person in the Nuggets family in a holiday mood. Radio broadcaster Jason Kosmicki did Friday’s game while wearing a full Santa outfit.
Northwest wildness.
Denver, Portland and Utah all have winning records, and Oklahoma City is 14-14, making the Northwest Division arguably the toughest in the NBA. No other division has four teams at .500 or better.
“The West is tough,” Portland coach Nate McMillan said. “And with Memphis, Oklahoma City and Sacramento playing better basketball, it just makes the West even tougher. You could win 49, 50 games and (miss the playoffs).”
Funny guy.
Asked what was the best Christmas gift he received, Karl said: “A Rwandan fruit basket.”
The questioner, curious what kind of fruits this contained, asked, “What’s that?”
“It’s a fruit basket,” Karl deadpanned. “From Rwanda.”
Benjamin Hochman, The Denver Post
