Malone: Caldwell-pope passed concussion protocol to return

CHICAGO >> After sustaining a head injury during the first quarter Tuesday night, Nuggets guard Kentavious Caldwell-pope passed ingame concussion protocol to briefly check back into the game, coach Michael Malone said.

Caldwell-pope played eight minutes in the second quarter but ultimately sat out the second half. His injury was designated a head contusion by the team. The Nuggets defeated the Bulls, 114-106.

“I was surprised when I saw him (back on the bench),” Malone said. “I asked him, ‘How do you feel?’ He goes, ‘I’m good,

I think I can go,’ so I put him in the game. And then as the second quarter was ending, I said, ‘How you doing?’ And he goes, ‘I’m OK.’ I said, ‘Well let’s get through halftime and see where you’re at.’ And it just didn’t make any sense to put him back out there. Let’s go home and hopefully get healthy and whole for our game in a couple of days.”

Caldwell-pope was trying to navigate a screen at the defensive end of the floor four minutes into the game when his head made incidental contact with Chicago center Nikola Vucevic. Play continued as Caldwell-pope stayed under the basket, grimacing the next two possessions. Malone called a timeout at the next dead ball, and Caldwell-pope walked to the locker room with his head down.

“It was a weird play. He was trying to get under a screen and he collided with Vuc’s shoulder,” Malone said. “… It was nothing malicious about the play. It was just a really big body catching him.”

The Nuggets (16-9) host the Brooklyn Nets on Thursday (7 p.m. MT) at Ball Arena.*