LOS ANGELES — Even Ferris Bueller wouldn’t know what to do with this many days off.
The Nuggets don’t play again until Thursday at Phoenix, giving them their longest stretch this season, the all-star break notwithstanding.
The team likely won’t practice today, and then will utilize the following three days “with kind of like a training camp mentality in a shorter period of time,” said coach George Karl, who has five new players on his roster. “My gut says that one day we’re going to do offense, one day we’ll work on defense and one day we’ll work on special situations. We don’t want to wear them out, but it’s a good opportunity to add some things and get them to understand the philosophies that we think are priorities.”
Confident in contract.
The Nuggets and Karl are closing in on a potential multi-year contract extension, though both parties are still hammering out some details.
“They’re very optimistic and hopeful,” Karl said. “Very hopeful that something can be done soon. (Executives) Masai (Ujiri) and Josh (Kroenke) have been very upfront and I think we’ve had a good exchange about the future of the NBA and the future of me being in Denver.”
Karl had his contract extended one season during the 2010 all-star break. The coach has often said he wants to end his NBA coaching career in Denver — and then continue to live in the Mile High City.
High marks.
The Nuggets entered the game against the Clippers with an 82-63 all-time record against them. This makes for a .566 winning percentage, the Nuggets’ highest percentage against any NBA opponent they have played at least 100 times.
They said it.
“Everybody feels as though they’re involved, so it gives everyone extra emphasis to work extra hard on defense. Now there aren’t any excuses, everybody is getting their touches.” — Nuggets guard J.R. Smith on the new-look Nuggets
