It’s possible the Nuggets won’t be fully healthy until the new year.
Both Kenyon Martin and Chris Andersen are diligently working to come back from knee surgeries, and coach George Karl said Tuesday that he expects reserve center Andersen to return by Dec. 1 and starting forward Martin to possibly return by Jan. 1.
Also, Karl said it’s possible that Al Harrington, the injured forward expected to play big minutes, might return from his foot injury to play in the final preseason game.
“I saw him running yesterday, and it looked like he was really trying to get back on the court before the regular season,” Karl said.
Harrington missed five weeks of summer training because of his foot injury, and the past couple weeks of camp too. Asked whether Harrington will be in the mix upon his regular-season return, Karl said, “I would probably say you’re not going to play him 35 minutes the first week or second week.”
Shelden Williams, a reserve power forward, has played often this preseason with Andersen, Martin and Harrington injured.
“He looked great in the first couple games, but fitting him in, how we play him, where we play him is still yet to be determined, especially if Al is to start playing,” Karl said. “Figuring out who fits with who, and who will play with who, will be determined in the first 15 to 20 games of the season.”
Also, reserve point guard Anthony Carter is battling a hamstring injury.
The Nuggets played their final home preseason game Tuesday, then travel to Portland on Thursday and Phoenix on Friday before opening the regular season next Wednesday against Utah at the Pepsi Center.
Thunder goes big time.
Thunder forward Kevin Durant rested on Tuesday, but the forward did reveal a pretty cool turn-of- events that occurred recently. Durant is on the cover of Sports Illustrated this week, but he said he wouldn’t go on the cover unless he could be joined by two teammates.
Nope, not Russell Westbrook and Jeff Green.
Instead, Durant demanded that Thabo Sefolosha and Nenad Krstic join him on the cover.
“Thabo and Nenad, people don’t talk about them too much, so I want everyone to know how important they are and what great teammates they are,” said Durant, the reigning scoring champ. “I’m happy I had the chance to voice my opinion, and I’m glad Sports Illustrated put them on the cover. Everybody knows Jeff, Russell and James (Harden), but these guys are also big parts of our team.”
Benjamin Hochman, The Denver Post
