SALT LAKE CITY — Get the ball inside to Nene. Go at Kyrylo Fesenko.
Acting head coach Adrian Dantley openly spoke about that being a big part of the Denver Nuggets' game plan heading into last Monday's Game 2 of their first-round NBA playoff series with the Jazz.
And it didn't surprise Fesenko — fill-in starter for injured regular Mehmet Okur — one bit.
After watching plenty of video of the Nuggets, Fesenko said, "I noticed they always go to (Nene) a lot in the first quarter, so I was ready for that."
The 7-foot-1, 300-pound Fesenko wound up logging 20 minutes Monday, scoring four points and grabbing two rebounds.
Nene finished with 17 and six, but — perhaps most importantly — Fesenko filled the gap in minutes so starting power forward Carlos Boozer and backup power forward Paul Millsap didn't have to go the full 48 each in the eventual Jazz win.
"He did a great job, even though it didn't show up in the stats," Jazz point guard Deron Williams said.
"He changes the game a little bit," Williams added. "He can guard Nene a little better. He's a bigger body in there. He clogs up the lane. You turn the corner, you see him in the lane, it's a little different, because he's a shot-blocker and he eats up a lot of space."
That's why Williams expects even more from Fesenko tonight, when the Jazz host Game 3 in the best-of-seven series, which is tied 1-1.
"Hopefully, he'll get some more rebounds for us and get a couple blocks," the Jazz point guard said Thursday. "That's what he needs to do."
To that end, Williams has been trying to help keep Fesenko composed.
"He's like a little puppy," Williams said. "So I'm just trying to keep him calmed down, make sure he's ready to go.
"It's good if he does it at the right time, you know?" Williams added with reference to Fesenko's penchant for jokes and gags. "Sometimes with Fes, it just comes at the wrong time. ... He doesn't know where to balance it out. But he's been great lately. He knows the importance of the playoffs."
Knowing he's going to play has helped, suggest teammates trying to keep the 23-year-old in check.
"It's good for him to have responsibility, instead of throughout most of the year just having to play spot minutes, situational minutes," Boozer said. "We'll keep him grounded, we'll keep him hungry, and I think he'll be fine."
"He's got a lot of highs and lows. So it's better for him to just stay calm and at an even keel," Williams added. "He played well (Monday). He knows he did. Hopefully he can repeat. That's the main thing — just keeping him focused and level-headed."
Being counted on really does make a difference, suggested Fesenko, who after Game 2 received congratulatory calls from everyone — from friends to his Mom back in Ukraine.
"It actually gives you bigger responsibility, so you try to concentrate and to focus more," he said. "You try to play 105 percent, because 100 obviously is not enough to win the playoff series."
GREAT BREAK: Lost amid Okur's ruptured Achilles and small forward Andrei Kirilenko's strained calf may be Boozer's strained oblique muscle, which apparently still isn't fully healed.
Boozer said he's feeling "better and better every day" and that having full three days off between Games 2 and 3 has helped his progress.
He's not alone.
"D-Will (Williams) too," Boozer said. "We're both pretty banged up."
Williams hurt his right ankle and knee when Nuggets star Carmelo Anthony yanked him to the floor in Game 2.
"I needed it, personally," he said. "Some other guys have some little injuries; I think it's good for Booz. I think it was great for us. It came at the right time."
UNPROVEN THERAPY: Kirilenko on Thursday suggested he didn't undergo platelet-rich plasma (PRP) therapy to help his strained calf any earlier than Monday because previously it was hoped more-traditional healing methods, including visits to a hyperbaric chamber, would work.
"We tried to stick with the treatment we usually do," he said.
It was only after he strained the calf in a third different spot last week — "Nobody really knows what happened," he said — that the groundbreaking but generally unproven PRP was considered.
"Nobody said (PRP) is gonna help 100 percent," Kirilenko said. "Right now it feels good, but nobody knows when I'm gonna run."
Kirilenko — out for nearly six weeks — hopes to perhaps return as soon as a possible Game 6 in the series, but he hasn't even tried running yet.
HE SAID IT: Williams, on Anthony: "I won't say he doesn't like contact, but he doesn't like hands on him and pushing him, so I think we've just got to continue to do that."
e-mail: tbuckley@desnews.com
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