Opinion: Nuggets' fate to be decided by their defense

DENVER - When the end of the season nears, the realization of what needs to be done becomes clear.

For the Denver Nuggets, it has become quite clear.

Denver has to win and win a lot. It has to play that thing called defense a lot less sporadically than it has been playing it.

The Nuggets are in the NBA's Western Conference. Compared to the Eastern Conference, it's akin to high school varsity versus junior varsity. Over the next 10 games, the Nuggets, who have 44 wins after Thursday's 118-105 defeat of the Dallas Mavericks, could win six games, finish with 50 wins and still not make the playoffs.

"Our feeling for the last five or six games is that you've got to win every game," coach George Karl said. "You don't have to, but you don't know which ones you can lose. So every game you have to take it as a single-game elimination competition."

Thursday was a prime example of Karl's mentality.

Nuggets forward Nene had surgery 10 weeks ago to remove a malignant testicular tumor. Nene surprised his teammates and practiced Wednesday. There was thought about Nene playing a few minutes. It would've been a big emotional moment for Nene and the Nuggets, too.

"We just want to be a part of his celebration," Karl said.

But that celebration didn't happen, rightfully so, until 77 seconds remained.

Denver trailed until midway through the third quarter, then woke up and built a 16-point lead in the fourth.

But the Mavericks are an excellent shooting team and can erase a 16-point lead quickly. Couple their shooting prowess with Nene's inability to play at a high level for a long period and it was easy to see why Nene didn't get in until the game was all but over.

The crowd stood and cheered, vibrating the Pepsi Center when he entered. There were many signs with "Nene" plastered across them.

Nene hugged Marcus Camby and walked to the court with a huge smile.

"Ahh, crazy," Nene said, describing the scene as he walked onto the court. "I shake a little bit. It was a special moment in my life. All of the love that the fans give, I'm going to put in my heart and save it."

Nene didn't touch the ball. He didn't box out a soul. He didn't go for a rebound. He was just there.

And that's all Nene needed to do - be there.

"If we can help him play this year, it'll be a great story," Karl said. "It'll be a great feeling. It'll be a great building block for the character and chemistry of our team."

Karl believes that somewhere in the next 10 games or "along the way," as he said, Nene is going to help the Nuggets win a game.

As great as that would be, if Nene plays, it should be sparingly at best.

Thursday's second half saw the Nuggets play defense in a way we've rarely seen. They held the Mavericks to 35 points after giving up 70 in the first.

There was one difference between each half. They played aggressive defensive in the second half - which clears up what they need to do throughout the rest of the season.

Contact Bryant at 636-0252 or milo.bryant@gazette.com