A lingering illness kept Wilson Chandler from attending Monday’s shootaround prior to the Nuggets’ game against Boston, coach Michael Malone said.
Chandler, who on Monday morning was downgraded from probable to questionable to play against the Celtics, left Saturday’s win over Dallas with a migraine headache, which often includes symptoms such as intense sensitivity to bright lights and loud noises. Migraines can last up to 72 hours, but Malone said Chandler’s illness was not limited to the severe headache.
“There are other things going on,” Malone said. “It’s not just that (migraine). It’s an illness. Obviously, he’s not feeling well. They’ll check on him this afternoon and see if we can get him over here tonight and go from there.”
Sickness has struck the Nuggets’ locker room at various points this season. Reserve forward Juancho Hernangomez was diagnosed with mononucleosis in late October. Hernangomez and guard/forward Will Barton also caught the flu during the holiday season. Assistant coach Bob Weiss is currently fighting through similar symptoms and is not scheduled to travel with the team for Tuesday’s game at San Antonio.
Chandler was bumped out of the starting lineup last week. Malone said he believes Chandler will become a more reliable scoring threat coming off the bench. Chandler’s second-half absence Saturday gave more minutes to two-way rookie Torrey Craig, who finished with nine points on 3-of-5 shooting and four rebounds in his most extensive playing time since mid-December.
“You’re much more able to find your rhythm, get more of a feel for the game and get a sweat going,” Craig said of the additional playing time.
Malone has “stopped looking” at officials’ two-minute report. The NBA’s last-two-minute report acknowledged a key officiating error at the end Saturday’s Nuggets’ win over the Mavericks, determining that Nikola Jokic should not have been called for a charge on Denver’s last offensive possession.
The incorrect call did not affect the outcome. And Malone said he’s “stopped looking” at those reports when they’re released the next day because “what good does it do you?”
“If you have those kinds of mistakes late in close games and you lose because of that, then that’s a really tough pill to swallow,” Malone said. “But we won the game. That’s all I care about it.
“I applaud the NBA’s efforts for being transparent. But really, at the end of the day, I don’t know what those reports do. Because if we would have lost, it’s not like we can go back and (replay) those last two minutes.”
Looking ahead. Monday’s home date with the Eastern Conference-leading Celtics begins a brutal week for the Nuggets, who play at San Antonio Tuesday before hosting Oklahoma City Thursday and defending champion Golden State Saturday.
Denver enters play tonight 26-23, one game up on the Clippers (25-24) for the eighth spot in the Western Conference and one game behind both No. 7-seed Portland and No. 6 seed New Orleans (both 27-22).
This week, the Clippers host Portland Tuesday and Chicago Saturday. Portland also hosts the Bulls Wednesday, before playing at Toronto Friday, at Boston Sunday and at Detroit next Monday. The Pelicans, who just lost star big man DeMarcus Cousins to a torn Achilles tendon, host Sacramento Tuesday, then play at Oklahoma City Friday and at Minnesota Saturday.
