Nuggets focused on keeping rhythm in long lay off until NBA Finals

DENVER—Michael Malone said on the flight home from Los Angeles he kept asking himself if the Western Conference Finals series was really over.

Now that it is, the Denver Nuggets are onto the NBA Finals, but first they wait. And they’ll be waiting for nine days due to scheduling reasons and the fact their opponent hasn’t yet been decided. The Boston Celtics have pushed the Miami Heat to a Saturday Game 6.

So the Nuggets wait until June 1 to face an unknown foe in their first-ever Finals.

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

The Nuggets had Tuesday off with Wednesday being an optional workout. Thursday was about conditioning and Friday was a nice practice according to the coach. His primary concerns are rhythm and conditioning right now.

“You play every other day for so long then you have a break,” Malone said. “It’s tough because you’re preparing for an opponent you don’t know who you’re going to play. So right now it’s about us, we have to be sure of who we are and address where we haven’t been good enough but it’s hard to keep your rhythm when you’re not playing.”

If Denver does get Boston, they’ll have won four-straight games and being coming off a game just days before. A Denver against Boston Finals with one having a lot more rest coming in, feels familiar… 2007 Rockies anyone?

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