Green: Layoff felt like being out of playoffs
Jeff Green’s long NBA Finals wait is finally, mercifully, almost over.
Sure, it’s been a while since the 14-year veteran last made it this far in the playoffs — 2017-18 with Cleveland — but the past 10 days have also felt like an eternity.
The Nuggets polished off their Western Conference Finals sweep of the Los Angeles Lakers on May 22 and could have finalized a matchup with Miami the next night had the Heat finished off its own sweep of Boston.
Instead, the Celtics ran off three straight wins before falling in Game 7 on Monday night.
The result? Green watched a whole lot of Eastern Conference Finals basketball over the past weekplus.
“I told my wife when Boston won Game 6, it almost felt like — we’d been sitting so long, it almost felt like we weren’t in the playoffs anymore because the only thing we were doing was watching them,” Green said on the eve of Denver’s first Finals game. “But I watched two good teams battle and when they won, it was like, ‘now it’s time to refocus.’ The time off, I think it helped in many ways. It allowed us to regroup, touch up on some things, better ourselves. I enjoyed that series. They showed me some things on both ends.
“I’m looking forward to this matchup.”
Kentavious CaldwellPope said Wednesday that the Nuggets started to tilt their preparations toward Miami last week before mixing in some Boston work as the Celtics tried to mount an historic comeback.
“We’ve been sitting for a long time, we’re going to be a little jittery and anxious to play,” Caldwell-pope added. “Just try to keep them calm. The first couple possessions are going to be a lot, even for myself. I’ll be feeling anxious, even right now.”
ATTITUDE ON ALTITUDE>> Erik Spoelstra wanted nothing to do with the altitude conversation Wednesday afternoon.
The first question asked of the 15th-year Miami head coach at Ball Arena ahead of the NBA Finals opener Thursday night was about playing on the Front Range with much shorter rest than an acclimated Denver team.
He put zero stock into 5,280 feet.
“If Denver wants to tip this thing off at the top of Everest, we’ll do that,” Spoelstra, the twotime NBA champion, said. “This thing is going to be decided between the four lines. They’ve also got to come back to Miami. If you want to make it about that, we’ll turn off the air conditioning and they’ve got to play in 90- degree humidity, sap the (crap) out of their legs.
“This thing is going to be decided between those four lines, and we’ll decide it then.”
NO HERRO IN GAME 1>> Heat guard Tyler Herro may be nearing a return, but it won’t happen Thursday night.
Spoelstra made that clear when asked about the percentage chance that Herro, who broke his hand diving for a loose ball April 16 and had surgery shortly afterward, might play during the Finals.
“I’m not a math guy, so I’m not good with percentages,” Spoelstra said. “He will not play tomorrow.”
Herro was seen before and after games in the Boston series shooting and working out on the court.
Might he return Sunday for Game 2 or next week in Miami? Or late in the series?
“I can’t even make any kind of proclamation until he takes these next important steps, and that’s with contact and doing things more on the court live,” Spoelstra said. “We’ll just see. ”