MINNEAPOLIS — Whatever happens from this point to the end of the season, Nuggets coach Brian Shaw would prefer it happen with some fire. With some sweat. With some grit.
That’s because his Nuggets are losing by larger and larger scores as their injury list grows. And the lack of grit is showing up on the defensive end more than anywhere else. You need fight on that end of the floor. And the Nuggets aren’t putting up much of a fight, the latest loss being a 39-point debacle at Indiana on Monday night.
“There’s a difference between losing and being a loser,” Shaw said. “And basically when things go bad, I don’t want everybody to just splinter off in different directions and jump off the ship.”
Since Jan. 1, the Nuggets have taken several steps back at the defensive end.
The Nuggets are currently 13th in the NBA in opponent field-goal percentage at .451, which isn’t bad, except when teams miss, they often get the offensive rebound and the extra possession that comes with it. The Nuggets are tied at fourth-worst in the NBA in offensive rebounds allowed per game (11.9).
Only the Los Angeles Lakers and Philadelphia 76ers allow more points per game than the Nuggets’ 104.2. And since Jan. 1, the Nuggets are allowing 109.3 points per game, which is tied with the Lakers for the worst in the league. Opponents are also shooting 46.6 percent since Jan. 1.
“We’re not healthy. Our numbers are down. We’re shorthanded at certain positions,” Shaw said.
One of those positions is point guard, with Ty Lawson out because of a fractured rib and veteran Andre Miller banned from the team.
“But even with that being said, you still have to show some fight,” Shaw said. “You still have to take some pride as a professional. We get our paychecks regardless of whether we play well or not, but the effort has to be out there.”
The defensive struggles got so bad, Shaw found himself calling for the team to play its first couple of possessions of zone defense this season at Indiana on Monday night, to mixed results.
“We’re just going to keep looking at the film, keep working with the guys and continue to try to find a way to get better,” Shaw said.
Asked his interpretation of the difference between losing games and being a loser, guard Randy Foye said: “The losing mind-set, where you come down and you’re more excited about offense than you are about defense. We’ve got to be grinders. We’re short in numbers. Obviously when guys come back, it’s a different story. As you see, when we played (Indiana) the first time we beat them pretty good at our home. We’ve got to understand that for a lot of people this is an opportunity. So you’ve got to take advantage of it.”
Right now, however, it doesn’t appear the Nuggets are ready to take ownership of their defensive fortunes.
“I don’t know if we are ready, but we have to be ready,” forward Wilson Chandler said. “It’s too deep in the season for us. If we want to make any push toward the playoffs, especially in the West, we have to, ready or not, even with the guys we’ve got out.”
Christopher Dempsey: cdempsey@denverpost.com or twitter.com/dempseypost
DENVER AT MINNESOTA
6 p.m., ALT, 104.3 FM/950 AM
Spotlight on Ronny Turiaf: It’s not the same in Minnesota without the big guy, center Nikola Pekovic, patrolling the middle. But he’s not, because of ankle bursitis, and as such, for the Wolves it’s been nice to have Ronny Turiaf at the ready. He’s not the scorer Pekovic is, but has allowed the Timberwolves to retain some of their rebounding profile and still can block shots. Turiaf, the nine-year veteran, had two points, 10 rebounds and a block in Minnesota’s loss to Houston on Monday.
Nuggets: Guard Randy Foye, who has been pressed into full-time point guard duty while a fractured rib has kept Ty Lawson out of the lineup, is fighting through a hamstring and now an ankle injury. He twisted the ankle in Monday night’s game but finished it anyway. Afterward he said the injury would not keep him from playing against Minnesota.
Timberwolves: Minnesota is going through its roughest patch of the season, with losses in six of its past seven games, including four straight. A game over .500 when it started, the Wolves find themselves four games under now, and injuries to starters Kevin Martin (broken thumb) and Nikola Pekovic (ankle) aren’t making things any easier heading into the all-star break.
— Christopher Dempsey, The Denver Post
