The Nuggets caught a break like a Steve Nash alley-oop.
Nash, the Suns’ all-star, didn’t play Tuesday against the Nuggets at the Pepsi Center, getting a night off from coach Alvin Gentry. Gentry also didn’t play his other 30-something veteran, Grant Hill, because the Suns were playing their third game in four nights.
“They’re a little run-down,” Gentry said. “I don’t feel it’s necessary to stick them out there with the possibility of injury. They’ve played a lot of minutes.”
Nash, 38, is having a sensational season. He leads the NBA in assists and ranks third in field-goal percentage. His night off left the Suns without their motor. Hill is one of their savvier defensive players.
“We’ve asked Grant to do a lot of things defensively and we’ve asked Steve to do a lot of things offensively,” Gentry said. “We just feel like, at this stage, why risk putting them out there?”
Injury report. Nene (calf) and Timofey Mozgov (ankle) didn’t play for the Nuggets on Tuesday because of injuries and likely won’t play tonight. As for Mozgov, “He’s running. He went through most of shootaround in a slow-moving way,” coach George Karl said. “He’s just trying to experiment to see what he can get away with and where he can go.”
Karl was asked whether Mozgov could someday be like Phoenix’s Marcin Gortat, a double-double player.
“I definitely see that,” Karl said. “I think he knows a 10-10 guy in this league gets paid $10 million. His defense is an asset. That’s definitely a possibility.”
Hill and Heels. Karl was talking to the media in a hallway before Tuesday’s game when he was interrupted by loud clapping from afar. Then, a voice: “How ’bout them Blue Devils? Austin Rivers!” It was Hill, a former Duke star, playfully taunting the North Carolina-bred coach about Duke beating the Tar Heels last week on Rivers’ buzzer-beating shot.
Benjamin Hochman, The Denver Post
