Denver Nuggets head coach George Karl has informed J. Michael Falgoust of USA Today that starting center Nene will miss Friday's game against the Washington Wizards due to a bruised heel and that Rudy Fernandez will be a game-time decision due to his achilles injury. Karl said Nene might have been able to play in pinch, but with the compressed NBA schedule he'd rather not risk further aggravation of the injury. Here is the tweet from Falgoust:
Karl says #Nene likely will sit tonight vs #Wizards bc of bruised heel. Fernandez is a gametime decision #nba #Nuggets
— J. Michael Falgoust (@jmikeNBAusat) January 20, 2012
Without Nene in middle, and backup center Timofey Mozgov nursing an injured back, Wizards' center JaVale McGee may be poised for a big night down low. Al Harrington has moved over to play center whenever the lineup is without the true big men, but it will be interesting to see how the Nuggets handle the size mismatch if Mozgov is also out.
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