put the hood up on his sweatshirt and faced reporters Wednesday night, clearly drained after playing through a high fever and other flu-like symptoms in a 134-111 home win against Phoenix.
By Friday morning, Barton’s jovial energy had largely returned. After a day of rest, drinking liquids and taking medication, Barton went through shootaround getting ready for the game against Utah and said he was feeling “much better.”
Barton and reserve forward Juancho Hernangomez have both gotten sick within the past week, partially a result of the winter season and the grind of the NBA schedule. Still, the Nuggets are taking precautions to prevent the flu bug from spreading. Coach Michael Malone said hand sanitizer and Emergen-c supplement packets that boost the immune system have been distributed.
“I’m not shaking anybody’s hand. Stay away from me,” Malone said with a laugh. “But it is that time of year. Guys are getting sick. And if you can do anything to kind of control it and not let that spread throughout the locker room, itap really important. Because it can wipe a team out pretty quickly.”
Lyles: facing Jazz feels ‘normal.’ Before every Nuggets-Jazz game, Trey Lyles has been peppered with questions about his time in Utah and the trade that sent him to division-rival Denver.
Thatap typical in the first season following such a move. But Lyles said matching up against the Jazz now feels “normal.”
“I don’t carry grudges with me,” Lyle said. “Itap fine. Itap a business. I realized that at an early stage in my career, and I’m fine with that. I’m just looking forward to my future and what I have to do.”
Also becoming normal for Lyles? Strong performances as the first post player off the bench, helping Denver stay above .500 and in the Western Conference playoff picture while all-star power forward recovers from wrist surgery. Lyles has averaged 16.6 points and 7.1 rebounds over his previous 12 games, including 16 points and eight boards in last week’s home win over Utah.
“My confidence is at an all-time high right now,” Lyles said.
Malone makes all-star case for Jokic, Harris. The NBA released the first returns for all-star fan voting Thursday, with Nuggets Nikola Jokic and Gary Harris both sitting outside the top 10 in the frontcourt and guard categories, respectively.
Malone said he does not pay attention to the popularity contest portion of all-star selection. But he also made a pitch for his two standouts. Jokic entered Friday averaging 16.2 points, 10.2 rebounds and 4.6 assists per game, while Harris ranked fifth in the NBA in steals (1.9 per game) and averaged 16.6 points and 3.3 assists per contest while shooting 49 percent from the floor.
“I’m sure there were some asinine votes in there, because that’s just what fans do,” Malone said. “But obviously if you just look at the raw numbers, you could make a great case for both Nikola and Gary to be all-stars (because of) what they do, how efficient they are and the impact that they have on our team every single night.”
Nuggets at Kings
When: 8 p.m. Saturday
Where: Golden 1 Center, Sacramento, Calif.
TV/Radio: ALT2; 92.5 FM
Spotlight on Zach Randolph: The 17-year veteran is still highly productive, leading the Kings in scoring (15.4 points per game) while also totaling 6.9 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game. Earlier this season, “Z-Bo” became the 20th player in NBA history to pull down 10,000 career rebounds while also scoring 18,000 career points. When the 6-foot-9 big man is not banging down low, he’s been credited with having a calming influence on a young Kings team expectedly sputtering with a 12-25 record.
