As the season winds to an end, the Nuggets may be forced to consider how they will handle Kenyon Martin’s playing time down the stretch in hopes of avoiding injury.
The Nuggets forward missed Friday night’s game against the Pistons with a bruised left knee, but it’s not the first time this season that Martin’s left knee has given him problems. This season, the big man has played under increasing pain in that knee, which caused him to miss two games prior to the all-star break with tendinitis.
Asked how the Nuggets would handle Martin in the final two months of the season, Nuggets coach George Karl wasn’t overly concerned.
“I think Kenyon does a good job keeping the pulse of his body,” Karl said. “My whole thing is to try and keep everybody around 2,500 minutes or less for the season. I think Kenyon will be there. I think he’ll get under 2,500.”
Watching from home.
Karl was on the restless side Thursday night, watching his team play at Golden State while he sat at home.
“It’s not easy,” Karl said. “It’s much more nervous. You don’t have any control. You don’t have the ability to yell at anybody. You’re yelling at the TV.”
Karl, who missed the game because of cancer treatment, was back on the sideline Friday night. He was complimentary about how assistant coach Adrian Dantley handled the team in his absence.
“I thought the team played well, I thought they did a great job,” Karl said. “I thought his third-quarter adjustment to going small was great. I thought it was a big factor in why we won the game.”
