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Monday, January 29, 2001
Van Exel plays 38 minutes on bad foot
Associated Press
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DENVER -- Two days after rupturing a tendon in his right foot, Denver Nuggets point guard Nick Van Exel was back on the
court Monday night against the Utah Jazz.
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Van Exel, who averages 17.8 points and 8.4 assists per game,
ruptured the plantar fascia tendon Saturday night against the
Dallas Mavericks. The tendon runs along the bottom of the foot.
After spending two days in a cast, Van Exel did not
expect to play against the Jazz but he scored 21 points with eight
assists and seven rebounds in Denver's 97-91 loss to Utah. The
Nuggets had won nine straight at home.
"I figured if I go out and play, I've just got to get used to
the pain because eventually I'm going to have to play with it
hurting," he said. "It really didn't hurt me that bad."
Normally dangerous from the outside, Van Exel missed nine of his
first 10 shots before hitting 7 of 9 while trying to bring Denver
back in the fourth quarter.
"I figured I wouldn't go out there and hurt the team," he
said. "Unfortunately, my shot wasn't falling there in that third
quarter, and they got a big lead on us, but it definitely wasn't
because of the foot."
With Van Exel still limping, the Nuggets signed guard Anthony Goldwire
to a 10-day contract, waived center Garth Joseph and placed guard
Calbert Cheaney on the injured list.
Van Exel worked out with Goldwire before the game and showed no
sign of a limp as he walked through the Denver dressing room.
"He refused to go on the IL because he thinks he can play
pretty quickly," Denver coach Dan Issel said. "The doctors have
told him he can't do any more damage. As soon as he can play with
the pain, he's going to try to play. I imagine it will be sooner
rather than later."
In addition to Van Exel, the Nuggets were without starting
center Raef LaFrentz, who did not suit up for the second straight
game because of a sprained right ankle. He injured the ankle last
Thursday at Utah.
"His turned ankle is on the opposite leg of his knee surgery
(in 1999), so we don't want it to be in a position where he's
trying to get off of that bad ankle and putting more pressure on
the knee," Issel said.
Goldwire, who played 109 games for Denver from 1997-98, was with
the Nuggets during training camp but was waived Oct. 25. He
averaged 20.6 points and 4.9 assists in 14 games for the Kansas
City Kings of the American Basketball Association.
"When I came in, everybody was excited to see me back,"
Goldwire said. "That's got to make a player feel welcome versus
going to a team that he hasn't played for. Just to have them coming
downstairs making jokes about you, that gives you extra
confidence."
To make room for Goldwire, Cheaney went on the injured list with
a strained left hamstring. Joseph had been on the injured list with
a groin strain.
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