DENVER -- The Denver Nuggets may be without starters Fat Lever and Danny Schayes when their opening-round playoff series with the Phoenix Suns resumes Tuesday.
Denver trails the best-of-five playoff 2-0 with after losing twice in Phoenix.
'It's going to be awfully tough without them,' forward Bill Hanzlik said, 'but we've won games without them and we feel if we play with the effort that we've shown during the first two games we're going to win.'
Denver Coach Doug Moe said after Sunday night's 132-114 loss he thought Schayes and Lever would be out of the lineup the rest of the series.
Lever suffered a thigh bruise when he went down hard late in the first quarter of Game 2. Schayes has been bothered with a sprained ankle suffered late in the regular season and saw limited duty in the first two playoff games.
Lever would be the biggest loss. He had 20 points and 17 assists in Game 1 and was applying defensive pressure against Suns guard Kevin Johnson in both games.
Last season Lever suffered a knee injury that kept him out of the playoffs when Denver was knocked out in the second round by Dallas.
'It's no different from any year,' Moe said, talking about other playoff injuries in past seasons. 'We had it every year.'
Perhaps the best thing going for Denver is the Nuggets' 35-6 home record this season. One of those losses, however, was to Phoenix.
'They don't lose too many ball games in the Mile High City,' said guard T.R. Dunn. 'They are a veteran group and have a lot of playoff experience.'
It was Dunn, the Suns' defensive specialist, who stopped Walter Davis in the second game. Davis had 34 points in the first game, but he scored 17 on Sunday.
The winner advances to face the winner of the Golden State-Utah series. Golden State leads that series 2-0.
