"Will he be home for Christmas (or, actually, on the road at Oklahoma City)?

Nuggets forward Kenyon Martin, who has worked diligently to return from offseason surgery on his left knee, was asked if he could return to play by Dec. 25, when Denver plays the Thunder.

"That would be ideally the situation, but I'm not putting all my eggs in one basket for that day," Martin said Saturday. "If I'm not ready, I'm not ready."

Martin has begun shooting and running.

"A lot of running, so when I do start doing other stuff, it will be a breeze," the power forward said. "I'm just trying to do as much running as I can tolerate, and it's going pretty well - I haven't run since before June. I attacked it. . . .

It's about me getting better each day, but at the same time, not risking a setback."

The voracious rebounder and defender has watched his Nuggets claw to a 12-6 record heading into tonight's home game against the Grizzlies (8-12). As he works to return, Martin said his next step is "jumping, jumping and more jumping. Everything is predicated on not having pain. But we've been taking the proper steps to avoid me having pain.

"We still have a lot of games to play (this season). Guys want to have me for more than less. And I'm pretty sure I'm going to play more games that I miss. So it's about me getting back on the court and being productive."

Karl under weather. Nuggets coach George Karl has battled a cold lately. His temperature was 103 on Thursday, he felt better during Friday's game but still felt fatigued, and then on Saturday he stayed home from practice. But the coach is expected to be at the Pepsi Center today.

Birdman hurt. Chris Andersen is listed as questionable for tonight's game, following a scary fall on his lower back Friday. X-rays were negative. The reserve center played 22 minutes in Friday's victory against the Clippers when the injury occurred. He had already notched six blocks."