Danilo Gallinari.
Danilo Gallinari. (Getty Images)

Practice was long over, so a group of invited schoolchildren took a bunch of shots Thursday at one end of the court, including one kid in a Nuggets No. 8 jersey. And on the other end, another fellow in a Nuggets No. 8 jersey took a bunch of shots too.

"He's going to find it," Nuggets assistant coach Melvin Hunt said of Danilo Gallinari. "He's going to put his time in, he's going to do whatever he needs to do."

In Gallinari's six games since returning from a broken thumb, the small forward has averaged only 10.8 points while shooting just 33.3 percent from the field.

While still recovering from the fractured left thumb, Gallinari is playing through pain in his right wrist too.

"I fell down a couple of times in the Houston game and I hurt it, but it's getting better," Gallinari said after Thursday's practice. "It will be good."

The Italian forward is one of Denver's strongest offensive weapons, but he was 0-for-7 in Wednesday's loss to the Clippers at Pepsi Center. He got to the foul line four times, making all four shots, thus giving him four points on the night (he averages 14.5).

"I've been trying to play winning basketball, and I know the stats matter more to you than me as long as we're winning," Gallinari said. "As Coach said, I need to be a little more aggressive and take a little more responsibility in the offense. You have to be positive.

"I think everybody wants to win and play well. It's important. Here in Denver, everybody expects to go to the playoffs, and I expect it. That's our goal. That's more important than my stats."

The Nuggets (34-28) have four more games this season, starting Saturday at Phoenix, another team fighting for a playoff spot. Denver entered Thursday in the seventh spot in the Western Conference.

"We're hoping for better flow and better rhythm with him," Nuggets coach George Karl said. "I told him: 'I've seen all my good players go through what you're going through. We're going to figure it out. You're going to be fine and you'll bounce back. You just have to think positive, take these two days (of practice) and think positive thoughts.'

"Gallo can win you a game with passing like shooting. I'm not going to overreact to him missing shots. One thing as a coaching staff, we feel that we've probably had less than four to six weeks of Arron (Afflalo), Gallo and Ty (Lawson) all playing well together. We played well in camp, but Arron wasn't there. Then when Arron was coming around, Gallo got hurt (ankle). And Ty hasn't had that consistent season, but he's been good. We're all anxious to find that flow."

That's the goal. That's the future, these three young horses, thorough thoroughbreds, running the court, hitting midrange jumpers, piercing the defense, drawing fouls.

Karl has played Gallinari in this stretch since Gallo's thumb injury, utilizing the size. The Italian forward was on the court in the final minute, hoisting what would have been a huge 3-pointer in the final seconds against L.A. — but it missed.

Hunt said the staff knows Gallinari is still rediscovering the speed of the game.

"He was in a mode where he was playing extremely hard, but there's nothing like game speed," Hunt said. "You can run on the treadmill, you can run mountains, but there's nothing like running up and down the court. Sometimes what we have to do with a guy is show him tape, because you don't realize.

"It's not that he's dogging it. Players just don't realize that they're not running their hardest. Gallo, Corey (Brewer) and Arron have been incredible about running the floor. And with Andre (Miller) and Ty, if they get the ball in transition, we know we have a fast-break opportunity."

Benjamin Hochman: 303-954-1294 or bhochman@denverpost.com