WASHINGTON — The way Jameer Nelson played, you might never know he was gone. At the same time, the way Jameer Nelson played reminded everyone that he was gone.
Nelson’s impact was quick on Thursday night. It was his first game after missing six straight due to a sprained left wrist. But he looked none the worse for the wear as he knocked down two quick 3-pointers in the second quarter, part of a 35-point period that was led by Nelson and the reserves.
“Almost forgot about him, it had been so long that he’d been out,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said, smiling. “But I thought Jameer played well. He did not show any signs of rust, a guy that had missed as many games as he had, and I thought the minutes he gave off the bench backing up Emmanuel, playing with Emmanuel were impactful. They were positive minutes. As he gets his game conditioning back he’s only going to get better and better.”
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Nelson finished with six points and four assists in 17 minutes. He said his wrist was “all right.”
“It was my first time having contact,” Nelson said. “I was shying away from it just a little bit.”
As far as not showing any rust, Nelson remained matter of fact.
“I kept myself in shape though,” he said. “I was just doing my cardio and doing what I can on the court. I’ve only been on the court for like maybe two days. Other than that it was lifting and cardio, keeping my conditioning right. The basketball part was the easy part.”
Kudos from Beal. Late in the game Wizards shooting guard Bradley Beal stole a few moments to chat with Nuggets coach Michael Malone to let him know he likes what he’s seen of the team from afar.
“He says coach you’re doing a (great) job, your young guys have a chance to be really good players and you guys play really hard,” Malone said. “So always good to hear that from your competition.”
Facing Wall. Emmanuel Mudiay faced speedy Wizards guard John Wall for the first time. His impression? “John is the fastest player I ever seen, ever played against,” he said.
