AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — Adding illness to injury, the Nuggets have a cold virus spreading through the team, and the impact was felt Friday night.
Starting shooting guard Arron Afflalo played only 22 minutes because of the virus, which Nuggets coach Brian Shaw said was adversely affecting the veteran’s breathing.
“Arron Afflalo was really, really not feeling well,” Shaw said. “He came out, and he gave it his best shot in the second half. I told him I’d monitor him early on, and he was struggling just to breathe so I got him out of the game, and we had to go in a different direction.”
Afflalo refused to use sickness as an excuse, saying, “A lot of guys play through illness sometimes, and you’ve just got to get out there and try.”
He wasn’t the only player stricken with illness on the trip.
“It’s practically our whole team,” Shaw said. “We probably legitimately have five or six guys that are under the weather. It’s just kind of going around and coming back around again.”
The worst case was JaVale McGee, whose flulike symptoms were so bad he was sent home to recover.
“Gary Harris is not feeling good,” Shaw said. “Arron. Kenneth (Faried) and Darrell (Arthur) are starting to come around a little bit, but they’re still not at full strength. We’re just trying to hang on and keep battling.”
Footnotes. The Nuggets tried a new warm-up time Friday, coming out earlier than normal, 20 minutes before game time in order to get a different result in the end. No such luck. “Not tonight,” Afflalo said. … Wilson Chandler, who is from Benton Harbor, Mich., had 25 friends and family in the stands Friday night.
