Danilo Gallinari looks at how he is playing and likes what he sees, even as his game evolves.
The 12 games since the NBA all-star break have been Gallinari’s best stretch of basketball since before he suffered a torn ACL in his left knee in the spring of 2013.
The 6-foot-10 forward has averaged 16.8 points, 4.3 rebounds and 1.3 steals in that stretch and has become the scorer and big shot- maker the Nuggets were accustomed to seeing before suffering injuries that put him on the shelf for 19 months. But he’s going about his business in a different way.
“He’s changing his game,” said Nuggets interim head coach Melvin Hunt. “He used to beat people with a deceptive first step. But now he’s making ‘tall’ shots; ‘I’m taller than you’ shots. Back then, we were trying to get him to ‘if someone is closing out on you, shoot it anyway because you’re big.’ But he hadn’t embraced that yet. But with the injury, it’s made him kind of slow it down, so now he’s taking those 6-foot-10 jump shots.
“And now his drives, they’re deceptive. He’s just different than he was back then.”
Gallinari acknowledges that “I don’t know if I feel exactly the same” as he did before the ACL tear, which led to a series of additional knee surgeries.
“It was a long process,” he said. “I knew I had to be patient with myself.”
He has scored 20 or more points in five of the past 12 games, after doing so just once in the first 35 games. He said he’s not back to being the player he was two years ago but is happy with his progress.
“Yeah, I feel good,” Gallinari said. “I don’t know if I feel exactly the same. If I had to see some differences, maybe I was still a little bit more explosive before the knee injury. Maybe I’m not to that level in terms of explosiveness right now. But I’m pretty close, and I feel better.”
Gallo is part of a bevy of Denver perimeter shooters who are playing well of late.
“It just proves the more time you put in the gym the more it’s going to reward you,” said forward Kenneth Faried.
Hunt noted Gallinari’s defense has been solid too.
“Defensively, he doesn’t get much pub but he does a nice job of taking charges,” Hunt said. “He’s got great anticipation, and he can get his body in front of the offensive player. He’s different. I think he’s stronger too. I think he’s a lot stronger.”
Christopher Dempsey: cdempsey@denverpost.com or
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Spotlight on Draymond Green: There are the Splash Brothers, Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson. Harrison Barnes and Andre Iguodala are key contributors too. Then there is the heart of the Warriors: Draymond Green, a 6-foot-7 forward from Michigan State. Green does a little of everything for Golden State. He scores and rebounds, and gets assists, steals and blocks shots. And he stands to reap the rewards with a lucrative multiyear contract this summer.
NOTEBOOK
• Nuggets: Rookie center Jusuf Nurkic (ankle injury) suited up for Wednesday’s home game against the Hawks but did not play. He probably won’t play Friday against the Warriors, but he is closer to returning to action. He is averaging 7.2 points and 6.7 rebounds in 45 games, including 22 starts.
• Warriors: Golden State won its past two games against the Nuggets in Denver after winning just one of its previous 13 games here. … The Warriors have no significant injuries. … Stephen Curry, one of the leading candidates for league MVP, did not score in double figures for just the second time this season in the Warriors’ 105-98 victory over Detroit on Wednesday. He finished with nine points. He is averaging 23.6 points, 7.8 assists, 4.4 rebounds and 2.2 steals.
— Christopher Dempsey, The Denver Post
