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

“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
an NBA Finals is still nearly a week away and their
opponent has yet to be determined, with Boston and Miami heading
into Game 6 of its Eastern Conference finals series.

The 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 Thursday — and once they know who they’re
facing (the Heat lead 3-2 with the series shifting to Miami on
Saturday).

“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, 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 — keep practicing like they expect
to play.

“Don’t pick
up bad habits throughout this week,” Murray 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 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
finals. He said the contest drove home an important lesson — to
play with an intensity all game 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.”

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
grinding series that lies ahead. It could be Jayson Tatum and the
Celtics. Or Jimmy Butler and the Heat, the eight seed that made it
into the 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 and went to college at 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.”