Nuggets report: Afternoon tipoff a pain

Chris Tomasson and Aaron J. Lopez

Published April 25, 2008 at 9:42 p.m.

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Photo by Mark J. Terrill / Associated Press

There's a chance injured Nuggets guard/forward Linas Kleiza will suit up today and battle Vladimir Radmanovic.

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There's one bad thing for the Nuggets about Game 3 being during the day. That's five fewer hours for Linas Kleiza to heal.

Nuggets coach George Karl said there's a chance Kleiza, who took a nasty fall in Wednesday's Game 2 against the Lakers and suffered a hyperextended right elbow, might not be able to play in today's 3:30 p.m. game at the Pepsi Center.

"It was on film, and it was kind of ugly," Karl said of Kleiza, who didn't practice the past two days. "It's very sore right now. I would think that there's a possibility he won't play. I think it's a small chance because I know L.K."

Still, Kleiza, who Karl said will start for a second straight game at guard if he can play, didn't want to offer projections on his chances of playing.

"I'd rather not speculate on that," Kleiza said after Friday's practice. "I've still got time. We'll see how it feels (today). . . . It definitely affects you. It's your shooting elbow. It's unfortunate, but that's part of the game."

Kleiza was fouled late in the second quarter by Lakers center Pau Gasol. He injured his elbow when he hit the floor hard and sought to brace his fall.

"I think it changed his game a little bit in the second half," Lakers coach Phil Jackson said of Kleiza not being as potent offensively after his injury.

OLYMPICS FOR NENE?

Forward Nene appears willing to play for Brazil in July's Olympic qualifying tournament in Greece, but he is waiting on word from the Nuggets. "That is not me," Nene said. "The Nuggets make a decision."

Nene played in just 16 games during a health-plagued season that included missing 21/2 months because of testicular cancer. Asked if he believes the Nuggets would let him play, Nene said, "I don't know. I can't answer that."

The 12-team tournament is July 14-20 in Athens, and Brazil has a good chance to earn one of three remaining berths for the August 8-24 Olympics in Beijing. Nuggets executive Mark Warkentien said the team isn't thinking that far ahead.

Nene plans to remain in Denver for the first few months of the offseason to work out. He said green card issues are a factor, but the Nuggets also would prefer to work closely with Nene, who has gained weight, before he goes to Brazil during the offseason.

"I think I'm going to be in pretty good shape," Nene said.

WAKE UP AND PLAY

Afternoon naps are a staple for pro athletes on game day, but the Lakers and Nuggets will have to alter their routine for today's 3:30 tipoff.

"I'm usually asleep," Nuggets forward Carmelo Anthony said.

"I've never played a 3:30 game here in Denver before - or ever. Once you get out there on that court, it's going to be all the same. It's going to be like you're playing a 7 o'clock game."

The early start is believed to be the Nuggets' first afternoon home game since the mid-1990s.

NOT SHARING ENOUGH

After averaging 24.7 assists - third best in the NBA - during the regular season, the Nuggets handed out just 32 assists in two games against the Lakers.

"That's been in the air lately - that we haven't been sharing the basketball, so I'm pretty sure you'll see a lot of it," Anthony said.

Teammate Allen Iverson, who led the Nuggets with 7.1 assists, shrugged off the lack of ball movement.

"I play basketball, man. We run plays; I try to execute the plays," he said. "If the assists are there, they're there. If they not, they not. Getting an assist is you passing the ball and somebody making a shot. That's that."

The Lakers have been doing a lot of passing and shot-making. They put up 33 assists in Game 1 and repeated the feat in Game 2.

ETC.

* Colorado 14ers coach Joe Wolf is a candidate to become a Milwaukee Bucks assistant under Scott Skiles. "I've heard he's got a good chance," Karl said of Wolf, who coaches the Nuggets' NBA Development League affiliate.

* For the fifth straight year, the Nuggets will play this July in the (Las) Vegas Summer League.

* As part of an effort spearheaded by Anthony, white Nuggets T-shirts will be placed in all 19,000-plus seats today. Nuggets players paid for the shirts, which will carry the team's playoff slogan, "Can You Feel It?"

* As of Friday afternoon, about 200 tickets remained for Game 3, and Kroenke Sports Enterprises vice president Paul Andrews said more could become available a few hours before tipoff. In addition, 128 standing-room tickets will go on sale at 11 a.m. at the Pepsi Center box office.

NUMBERS GAME

42 seconds that the Nuggets have held the lead in the second half of the first two games. Overall, the Nuggets have played with a lead for 14:34 of a possible 96 minutes.

HE SAID IT

"It riled me up, too. I don't worry about that. He can go get 50. He can get 100 points if he wants."

Anthony, not concerned that trash talking by the Nuggets may have fired up Lakers star Kobe Bryant, who scored 49 points in Game 2.

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