Chris Andersen ducked his head through a doorway off to the side of the Nuggets’ practice court Monday, spun around and launched a basketball 40 feet toward the basket.
The ball sailed way past the hoop. Undeterred, Andersen tried and tried again, kicking off a trick-shot, slam-dunk competition that lasted for nearly half an hour.
Yes, these new Nuggets are having fun.
There was a certain levity at the team’s practice Monday that coach George Karl hadn’t seen from his team since, well, let’s just say it’d been awhile. For once, there was no immediate game to prepare for, no trades looming or off-court drama.
“It’s kind of fun, in the middle of the year, having a moment of relaxation,” Karl said.
There is, of course, plenty of basketball to worry about as the Nuggets held the first of three consecutive days of practice without a game. The team plays Thursday at Phoenix before returning to Denver to play Detroit on Saturday.
In the two weeks since the team traded Carmelo Anthony and Chauncey Billups and three others to the New York Knicks and added five new players, there has been little chance for the new Nuggets to practice together beyond game-day shootarounds.
Though the team has gone 5-2 since the trade, Karl and his players admit that at times during that stretch the offense became disjointed and dialed back as a result of mixing in so many new faces.
“The mental chemistry I think is in a very good place. The physical chemistry of the team is obvious that we haven’t been together enough,” Karl said. “Sometimes in game situations you’re trying to make adjustments and you’re relying on a concept that hasn’t even been reviewed yet.”
Extended practice time this week could help change that.
Four players missed Monday’s practice because of injuries — too many absences for the squad to play a game of 5-on-5. But of the players who sat out, Kenyon Martin (rest), Al Harrington (sore Achilles tendon), Arron Afflalo (hamstring), only Danilo Gallinari is a newcomer. Gallinari watched at least part of the practice while resting his fractured toe.
“All we’ve been running is pick-and-rolls to one side, easy stuff for them to remember. Now we’re getting players hurt, guys going down, so we have to make sure everyone is in the flow,” point guard Ty Lawson said. “Hopefully, we’ll be able to go even more in depth into more of the plays, but for now, we’re just keeping it simple so that everyone knows what to do.”
The Nuggets head out on road for a four-game East Coast trip next week, after which they will have a short break and more practice time. These sessions and those at the end of March will be crucial to determining if the team can make a serious playoff push.
The team’s April schedule is brutal, including a stretch in which the Nuggets play five games between April 3-9.
“We’ve got to win a good number of games, some of them on the road, and if we do, I think we can get into a real interesting position come . . . that week in April,” Karl said. “It’s going to be pretty fun, and hopefully we can be as tuned as can be for that.”
Lindsay H. Jones: 303-954-1262 or ljones@denverpost.com
