NEW ORLEANS — One of the Nuggets’ coaches brought a hypothetical question of strategy to Michael Malone on Friday, before Denver’s third group stage game of the NBA in-season tournament.
If the Nuggets make it to the eight-team knockout stage, when every game is an elimination game, should they shorten their bench and treat it like an actual playoff game?
Will other teams treat it that way? Or will those games be coached as normally as possible for an early December matchup?
“I’m worried about today. When we get to Vegas, I’ll worry about that then,” Malone said a few hours later when presented with the same question during his pregame news conference in New Orleans.