Paul Millsap participates in 5-on-0 drills after practice, inches closer to return

DENVER — While Paul Millsap won’t play Sunday when the Nuggets host the Houston Rockets, Denver’s marquee free agent signing is making significant progress from left wrist surgery and his return to the lineup could be imminent.

Millsap, who’s been sidelined since Nov. 19, participated in 5-on-0 drills at practice Saturday in an effort to get reaccustomed with Denver’s read-and-react offense. Millsap wasn’t seen wearing the protective splint on his left wrist that the 33-year-old was sporting earlier this week, for at least the portion of practice that was open to the media.

“We’re trying to get him some extra reps if you will,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. “…I wanted to keep Devin (Harris), Paul and some of the other guys out on the court after just to continue to get that feel back and get re-acclimated with the offense, the play calls and our spacing. So it was just trying to get him building blocks, day-by-day.”

On Friday, Malone said that Millsap could return sometime over the next two weeks but his timetable is largely dependent on getting the range of motion back in his left wrist.

“Right now, the one thing that I keep hearing is the range of motion in the left wrist isn’t necessarily where they want it to be,” Malone said. “….He’s ahead of schedule. He’s been pushing the envelope if you will in terms of his rehab so he’s definitely ahead of schedule. What does that mean? Is it next week? Is it in two weeks? I’m not sure.”

In total, Millsap has missed the Nuggets’ last 43 games. Denver has gone 24-19 without Millsap and is the league’s sixth-best offense over that span. But the Nuggets are allowing 108.8 points per 100 possessions on defense without Millsap — the 25th-worst mark in the league.

“I don’t know,” Millsap said regarding his return. “Things are going to be predicated on practices and how I feel after practices, but hopefully pretty soon. It feels good now. We’ll see how it feels in the morning and at tomorrow’s practice, and we’ll go from there.”

The Nuggets got Mason Plumlee — who’s regarded as one of Denver’s better interior defenders — back from an eight-game absence on Friday against San Antonio. Plumlee logged 21 minutes off the bench, scored 12 points on 5-9 shooting and registered two rebounds. Denver won its fourth game in a row and seventh of its last eight but surrendered 119 points to the Kawhi Leonard-less Spurs.

The Nuggets did hold San Antonio to 20 points on 4-13 shooting over the game’s final nine minutes. Plumlee played five of those nine minutes.

“Very challenging,” Millsap said about the injury. “Probably the toughest thing I’ve been through in my basketball career missing so many games, having surgery for the first time, rehabbing.”

The Nuggets host the Rockets on Sunday. In the two teams’ last meeting on Feb. 9, Houston won 130-104.