"When the Nuggets left the halftime locker room Tuesday, Kenyon Martin stayed behind – not to get treatment, but simply to harness his emotions. Denver was losing big — and he and the trainers decided he should rest his sore left knee.

"It was eating at me," Martin said after the loss to the Suns. "Yeah, man, I want to compete and play, but it was the way I was feeling, it was for precautionary reasons."

Now, first things first. Martin is confident that with enough rest this week – "everything but basketball" – his left knee will be ready for the playoffs. "