Nuggets working to stay sharp after series sweep

DENVER — Denver Nuggets guard Bruce Brown has been using the long layoff before the start of the NBA Finals to work on his game.

There was no basketball involved in that, by the way.

“First day of golf I played pretty well,” Brown recounted. “The second day was terrible.”

On Friday, it was back to the business of Brown hitting the shots he hits the best — jumpers — as the Nuggets returned to the court for a light practice. Game 1 of the franchise’s first appearance in the NBA title round is still nearly a week away and their opponent has yet to be determined. Game 6 of the Eastern Conference title series Saturday night in Miami, where the host Heat have a chance to finish off the Boston Celtics, who have posted backto-back wins since falling into a 3-0 hole.

For the Nuggets, the extra rest has certainly been welcome. The rust, though, does become a concern.

“It’s impossible to keep your rhythm if you’re not playing games,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. “You can do whatever you want in practice, but there’s no way you can replicate playing in an NBA playoff game.”

The Nuggets celebrated sweeping the Los Angeles Lakers on the plane ride home. It bought them a day off Tuesday and an optional day Wednesday (although quite a few players showed up). On Thursday, there were conditioning drills and individual drills before reassembling on the practice floor Friday. The intensity will pick up closer to the start of the series next Thursday — and once they know who they’re facing.

“Right now, as I told our players, this is about us,” Malone said. “We have to shore up who we are and address the areas that we have not been maybe good enough or areas that we can clean up.”

Before the break, center Nikola Jokic, guard Jamal Murray and the Nuggets were cruising along, too, turning in a 12-3 mark in the postseason. Murray’s biggest piece of advice for teammates is to keep practicing like they expect to play.

“Don’t pick up bad habits throughout this week,” he said. “Just being able to stay locked in. You don’t want to get relaxed. I think that’s the biggest — we don’t want to relax and just wait. We want to stay sharp.”

Murray took the opportunity Thursday night to tune into the NHL’s Stanley Cup playoffs. He watched the green team (his description of the Dallas Stars) knock off the white team (his description of the Vegas Golden Knights) in overtime during Game 4 of the Western Conference title series to stay alive and avoid a sweep. He said the hockey game drove home an important lesson: to play with intensity from start to finish, especially on defense.

“Our defense is being played with intent,” Murray said. “We’ve all been on a string. When we need a stop, we all lock in, even if we don’t get it, we lock in and try and get it possession by possession. I think that’s crucial at this stage.”

It’s the same with maintaining a balance between hoops and home life. Malone said his family has helped keep him grounded.

“I can’t go home and be in, like, Game 7 mindset, because my wife and kids would leave me,” Malone said. “I have to force myself to take a deep breath and remind myself that I am a husband, I am a father, and to be a part of my family.”

This weekend, Malone may even play some pickleball — just to take his mind off a potentially grinding series that lies ahead. It could be against Jayson Tatum and the Celtics, who reached the NBA Finals a year ago. But it might be Jimmy Butler and the Heat, the No. 8 seed that made it into the current playoffs through the play-in tournament.

For Brown, no matter who it is, the game will be a reunion of sorts. He’s from Boston but went to the University of Miami.

“But if we did go to Boston, it would be a lot of tickets,” Brown joked. “So it would be really expensive.”

“Right now, as I told our players, this is about us. We have to shore up who we are and address the areas that we have not been maybe good enough or areas that we can clean up.”

— DENVER NUGGETS

COACH MICHAEL MALONE