NEW ORLEANS — Sooner, rather than later, big decisions on Nuggets big men will be made.
Two centers, Joffrey Lauvergne and Jusuf Nurkic, are closing in on returns, and when they do, coach Michael Malone must figure out who plays and who doesn’t.
“It’s definitely something that we’ve talked about internally,” Malone said. “We’ll kind of jump off the bridge when we get to it.”
Lauvergne appears to be the closest to getting back on the court. He has missed seven consecutive games with a lower back strain and is not expected to play Tuesday night against New Orleans. Lauvergne and Malone, however, have said the center will get back soon, the coach pinpointing this back-to-back set with New Orleans and then San Antonio as the target.
Meanwhile, Nurkic said after the Phoenix game Saturday that he’ll be back “next month.”
Nurkic has done some non- contact work and continues to rehab his surgically repaired left patellar tendon but is not optimistic about getting back to action before December.
“I think the bigger issue, the challenge is going to be when we get healthy in our frontcourt, when we get Joffrey back, when we get Jusuf Nurkic back, now all of a sudden you’re looking at six guys who are all capable of playing, but there’s only so many minutes,” Malone said. “And that’s a good challenge and problem to have as a head coach, but every night the game takes on its own personality, and we’ll put the guys out there that we feel are going to give us the best chance to win, depending on matchup, situation, whatever it may be.”
Lauvergne has fretted about being out too long, not wanting to fall on the depth chart. And before he was injured to the point he could no longer play, he was one of the Nuggets’ most consistent players, with averages of 10.7 points and 6.3 rebounds per game. He could score inside and all the way out to the 3-point line.
But his back has not been quick to heal, and that has kept him out. In the meantime, J.J. Hickson has come in and performed well, averaging 9.0 points, 5.1 rebounds and 1.0 blocks. In his last four contests, Hickson has averaged 10.3 points and 6.3 rebounds and is shooting 56.7 percent from the field.
The Nuggets are 4-2 with Hickson in the starting lineup.
“Joffrey had won that job coming out of training camp. But when you’re out with a back like he has been, he’s going to have to work his way back in and fight for those minutes,” Malone said. “And I’m sure that he will. So, again, good problem to have. But when you have guys like Kenneth (Faried), J.J., Nikola (Jokic) and (Darrell Arthur), who have been playing so well, it’ll be a challenge for Joffrey initially.”
Meanwhile, the challenge for the entire team is to regain the ball-movement personality it had during the three home wins but went missing in a blowout loss at Phoenix.
The Nuggets had just one assist at halftime of that one and made just 13-of-34 shots.
Guard Will Barton dished out four of those assists.
“We were pretty stagnant,” Barton said. “We had a three-game win streak. Guys were feeling (good about) themselves. We were making shots, and so everyone was feeling like they had that hot hand. It’s natural. No one is selfish on this team. We’ll come back and fix it.”
Christopher Dempsey: cdempsey@denverpost.com or @dempseypost
DENVER AT NEW ORLEANS 6 p.m. Tuesday, ALT; 104.3 FM
Spotlight on Anthony Davis:
Whatever the issues are contributing to the Pelicans’ unexpectedly horrendous 1-9 start, Davis isn’t one of them. The budding superstar continues to put up huge numbers. Davis is averaging 25.5 points, 9.3 rebounds and 2.8 blocks per game. About the only thing that isn’t quite right is his shooting percentage, which is under 50 percent for the first time in his career, mostly because he is spending more time shooting from the perimeter.
NOTEBOOK
Nuggets:
Forward Kenneth Faried is listed as questionable for the game against New Orleans with a sore back. He left the team’s last game, at Phoenix, with back spasms and will see how he feels at the shootaround, and perhaps even pregame, to make a decision. Meanwhile, center Joffrey Lauvergne, who has been dealing with back issues of his own for more than a week, is not expected to be ready to play.
Pelicans:
New Orleans lost three of four games to the Nuggets last season, including both games played at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans. … Guard Tyreke Evans is out for the game with an injured right knee. Also out are guard Norris Cole (sprained left ankle) and center Kendrick Perkins (right pectoral).
Christopher Dempsey, The Denver Post
