"Fast-paced with the ability to sneak up on you, the calendar might be the Nuggets' toughest opponent.

There are now 11 days until the final game of the regular season, and forward Kenyon Martin said Thursday he wants to get in a game before the playoffs — if his left knee is up to the task. But Martin just began running on the court, following his March 8 platelet-rich plasma therapy.

Martin admitted "there's always that possibility" he might not be able to return at all this season.

"I don't know how it's going to react to running and jumping and playing 35 minutes a night. It takes a toll," Martin said. "And I'm not going to be a guy who is going to play 12 to 14 minutes. If I'm going to do that, I might as well sit on the side, because that's not helping the team out. They need my presence on the court, they need me to be who I am."

Martin, who averages 11.8 points and 9.6 rebounds, began light running on the court Thursday — "that's definitely progress" — and he has done work in the weight room and on the stationary bike.

"It's getting better, making progress, doing more and more each day," he said. "Trying to take steps in the right direction without any setbacks."

Martin said he doesn't have a set day to return to the Steadman Hawkins Clinic in Vail, where his doctors would look at the progress from the PRP therapy."