Ty Lawson was a late scratch for Friday night’s home game against the Cavaliers because of left ankle soreness. It was the first game he’s missed this season because of the injury, but it probably won’t be the last.
Lawson has been dealing with it ever since he injured the ankle late last season. The Nuggets point guard missed the final six games of the season, then had to get the ankle examined again after the season when it wasn’t healing as expected. It turned out to be worse than originally thought, and Lawson didn’t begin running in the offseason until July.
He has been wearing a small brace on it this season, and ices it daily.
Nate Robinson started in his place.
Nuggets coach Brian Shaw talked before Friday’s game about Lawson’s importance to the team. Lawson has gotten off to a slow start this season, averaging only 12.8 points per game and shooting just 38.2 percent.
“I don’t think that you panic,” Shaw said. “We’re 1-3; it’s not where we want to be. But there has to be a sense of urgency, not panic. I haven’t seen that urgency, and it starts with (Lawson). He’s our first line of offense, he’s our first line of defense. If he looks at his own numbers and his own performance in these (first) four games, he’s played one aggressive half of basketball — and that was the second half in Oklahoma City.
“The fact that we are struggling the way we are right now, it’s a mirror of how he’s played. It affects Kenneth (Faried) and it affects Arron (Afflalo) and everybody else on the floor who need him to set the table for us.
“So I just want him to be more aggressive, because how he goes, that’s how we go.”
Mozgov, Blatt together again. The Cleveland coach’s eyes lit up when he was asked about his former player.
David Blatt and Nuggets center Timofey Mozgov have a long relationship, stemming from Blatt coaching Mozgov with the Russian national team.
That player-coach relationship may have extended into the NBA if Cleveland had gotten its way during the offseason. The Cavaliers called the Nuggets in the summer, inquiring about a trade for Mozgov. But the Nuggets weren’t interested.
“Timofey is a great young man,” Blatt said. “I had the pleasure and the honor to coach him for a number of years with the Russian national team and in the national team environment.
“We had a lot of success together, winning medals and titles, and he was obviously a big part of that. So, except for tonight, I have a very soft spot in my heart for him.
“Great kid. And I’m happy that he’s done so well in the NBA.” Christopher Dempsey, The Denver Post
