NEW ORLEANS — Remember Danilo Gallinari?
The Nuggets are being extremely cautious about the new Nugget, who hasn’t played since Feb. 25 at Portland because of a fractured big toe. And it’s becoming more likely that he’ll miss Wednesday at Atlanta, returning Friday at Orlando.
Also, Arron Afflalo didn’t play Monday against the Hornets. He rested his injured hamstring suffered March 5. It’s unclear if he’ll play Wednesday. He went through an intense workout Monday morning at shootaround.
Wilson Chandler continues to start at small forward, while rookie Gary Forbes has been the shooting guard with Afflalo out.
“We’re not going to run any plays for Gary — he’s a no-nonsense offensive player who’s got to earn his points by running the court and playing hard,” Nuggets coach George Karl said. “Sometimes the personality of the starting lineup allows me to focus on trying to get other guys some shots, trying to get the offense orchestrated toward people who may need the help.
“He gives us a good defensive dimension. He’s played very well in the stretch we’ve given him.”
On the road again.
Denver is playing four teams with winning records on this road trip. So what’s the approach?
“We talk about staying focused on the game at hand and not trying to think ahead about — we’ve got to do this or that,” Karl said. “Every team we play, if we play a good game, we have a chance of winning the game. We’re still in the process of learning from what happens on the court. We haven’t been together enough to have a personality. Our personality can change tomorrow if Gallinari gets back or if Arron gets back. We’re just trying to get one or two pieces a little better or find one or two things we can add to our defense and offense.”
He said it.
“Our bench has had such a great year that I have trouble saying one bad thing about them.” — Karl
Benjamin Hochman, The Denver Post
