WASHINGTON — The most frustrating part of it all for Nuggets center JaVale McGee is the lingering pain.
The pain from his tibia surgery this year refuses to go away, and it’s impacting his ability to have an impact on the court.
“It’s definitely frustrating,” McGee said. “Because I know the player that I am. And especially in this system, I know what I can do off being 100 percent. So it’s definitely frustrating playing at 85 or 90 percent, when I could be playing at 100.”
McGee’s inclusion in the game Friday night against the Washington Wizards was far from guaranteed. In fact, the blowout allowed Nuggets coach Brian Shaw to play McGee and see how things went. McGee played the entire fourth quarter and scored two points, grabbed three rebounds and blocked two shots.
“It felt good,” McGee said. “I haven’t played in like five games, four games. So it felt good being out there.”
McGee described the pain in his left shin as “sometimes there’s just a real soreness. So, sometimes I just have to be cautious of how hard I go. And I’m a jumper too, and it’s a lot of weight jumping. So, sometimes I have to ration out how much I’m jumping on that day.”
And that means practices and shootarounds will be done at half speed or not at all in many cases. McGee said he’s still trying to lose weight to take stress off his tibia, but most condition exercises require being on his legs to do it.
Robinson update. Nuggets guard Nate Robinson left the game in the fourth quarter and did not return after taking a knee to the back on a foul by Washington’s Rasual Butler.
“I’ve never had anything like this,” Robinson said. “That’s the hardest knee I ever took in my life.”
Robinson is day to day.
