Darrell Arthur is the odd man out in Nuggets' rotation

DENVER — With a fully healthy roster for the first time all season, coach Michael Malone is asking his players to sacrifice playing time for the betterment of the team.

The Nuggets arguably have 12 players deserving of rotation minutes, but playing them all while establishing a consistent rotation and rhythm game in and game out is simply not feasible.

“When you have a guy like Darrell Arthur, who I spoke to before the game to inform him that he wouldn’t be playing that night in all likelihood, and he receives that with just class, that makes my job easier,” Malone said before the Nuggets took on the Knicks Saturday night. “The word that Darrell used and I think it hits the point is sacrifice. You can’t play 15 guys and Darrell Arthur is a guy who’s proven to be a very good player in this league but he sacrifices for our team and supports everyone who is playing.”

With Wilson Chandler moving into the starting lineup and playing almost exclusively at power forward this year, and Kenneth Faried backing him up at the four, there aren’t available minutes for Arthur. Granted, you can make the argument that Arthur, who has played in just 12 games this season due mostly to injury, deserves a role on the court for Denver, but Malone wants to establish a consistent rotation when healthy meaning Arthur could consistently sit.

“I’m hoping it’s not somebody different every game. I’d like to try and get in a little bit of a rhythm with our rotation; starters and guys off the bench,” Malone said. “But we all know over the course of an 82 game season, things are going to change.”

Footnotes

Derrick Rose (back spasms) will not play tonight. Rose practiced Friday but struggled to get through shootaround Saturday morning.

Carmelo Anthony, who has yet to win a game in Denver since getting traded from the Nuggets to New York in 2011, was held out of the Knicks’ with a sore shoulder 103-90 loss to Golden State Thursday but will play tonight in Denver.