Nuggets guard Ty Lawson was back at practice Thursday, a day after he missed a plane flight that caused an unexcused absence at practice Wednesday.
“I told him what happened, and he’s cool with it,” Lawson said of coach Brian Shaw. “So we’ll just keep moving forward and keep playing hard.”
There is still a matter of punishment, however. The Nuggets hadn’t settled on a consequence for Lawson by the time they left for Milwaukee on Thursday afternoon. And despite the fact that Lawson said he had talked to Shaw, the coach had not had a chance to have a full discussion of the matter with Lawson by the time he met with the media in early afternoon.
“Internally, we’ll decide what to do from there,” Shaw said.
Chandler stays. One of the surprises of the trade deadline was the Nuggets hanging onto forward Wilson Chandler. He wasn’t surprised.
“I’m going to play hard the last 29 or 30 games,” Chandler said.
His name was connected to a number of teams leading into the deadline. But in the end, there were no offers the Nuggets deemed good enough to pry him away. So he’s here, for now.
DENVER AT MILWAUKEE
6:30 p.m. Friday, ALT; 950 AM
Spotlight on Giannis Antetokounmpo: The predraft hype in 2013 centered on the immense athletic ability and raw potential of this Greek player, who’s now in his second NBA season. At 6-foot-11, with a wingspan seemingly a mile long, the 20-year-old Antetokounmpo is averaging 12 points and 6.6 rebounds. He is shooting 50.7 percent from the field.
NOTEBOOK
• Nuggets: Point guard Jameer Nelson (Achilles tendon) participated in practice Wednesday and Thursday and is ready to play after missing the final four games before the NBA all-star break. … Coach Brian Shaw is looking for good things from the Nuggets in their final 29 games. “We can still get on a run, play good basketball, play together and feel good about ourselves if we can string some better effort together,” he said.
• Bucks: Amid the hoopla surrounding the Hawks’ meteoric rise, the Bucks’ improvement has flown under the radar. At 30-23, the Bucks are 20 wins better than they were through 53 games last season.
— Christopher Dempsey, The Denver Post
