Nuggets point guard Ty Lawson returned to the court Sunday, so coach George Karl returned to an experiment he started in mid-December — playing Lawson and Chauncey Billups in the same backcourt.
“That hasn’t happened as much as it could happen in the second half of the season,” Karl suggested.
Lawson had missed the past four games because of a left ankle sprain, and because of both point guards’ injuries, they hadn’t been active together since Dec. 16.
Karl put the two on the court in the last five minutes of the second quarter, and although it has been an effective lineup at times, in this particular instance Utah outscored Denver 15-9.
“I think you see a lot of teams in the league going to two point guards on the court,” Karl said. “It seems to make the games have a better rhythm or flow. I don’t disagree with that. I like having both of them on the floor.”
Karl’s confidence in the rookie is boosted on the defensive end, because “Ty’s defense is better than any rookie I’ve ever coached at the point guard position. He still makes mistakes, but he’s a very sound defender.”
Playing down.
Karl took some of the blame Sunday for a disturbing trend this season — eight of Denver’s 14 losses were against sub-.500 teams.
“When we’ve had one of our (top) guys out, against the weaker teams, we haven’t filled out the hole, and some of that falls on me,” Karl said. “My past history has been pretty good at that. This year, I don’t know why, I haven’t been able to get the motivation or intensity to overcome. Sometimes, it’s very disappointing when you have a 10-, 12-point lead on the road and in three minutes it’s gone.”
Benjamin Hochman, The Denver Post
