It had only been two days since the Nuggets clinched a spot in the Western Conference finals, but Friday at practice they were itching to get back to the court.

"When I'm on a team that's playing the way that we're playing, at a high level, and fortunately don't have anybody banged up, I just like to keep playing," guard Chauncey Billups said. "Unfortunately we have a little while to play, but we'll try to simulate some of those situations in practice. But it's nothing like a game."

The Nuggets went over their L.A. Lakers scouting information Friday morning, and will do so again today. Sunday and Monday are days they plan to brush up on Houston plays and personnel. By Sunday afternoon, the Nuggets will know which team they'll be playing and plan to practice specifically on that team.

None of the Nuggets said whether they wanted Houston or the Lakers and didn't even fully entertain questions on which team they matched up with best. All of them want home-court advantage, and the only way that can happen is if Houston wins. The Rockets are the No. 5 seed in the West, and have not had homecourt advantage in the playoffs. A series between the Rockets and Nuggets would begin at the Pepsi Center on Tuesday.

The general consensus among the Nuggets is that the Lakers will be their next opponent, but Denver coach George Karl isn't ready to count the Rockets out.

"I tell you what, I'm not going to doubt Houston after (Thursday) night," Karl said. "I saw a team that just seems like, they subtract something, they get stronger. They have such an attitude that they are going to beat you and overcome, and I'm very impressed by that."

Still, he's more worried about the Nuggets than anything else. Extended layoffs have historically hurt teams in the past, no matter the sport. Cleveland, which clinched its spot in the Eastern Conference Finals on Monday, is in the same situation. By the time the Cavaliers play another game, it will have been nearly 10 days.

The Cavs also had a lengthy layoff between the first and conference semifinal round. That was eight days between games.

"They came out and they were a little bit sluggish," Denver forward Chris Andersen said. "So we're trying to keep our maintenance up and make sure we're healthy and that we're ready to go."

Karl is cautiously optimistic about the effects of a layoff.

"I think there's no question that when you're playing well you like to play," Karl said. "The challenge, of course, is it gives us a couple extra days to be prepared and ready. They are going to have 36 hours to get ready, and we're going to have four or five days to get ready. I'd say we'd rather play because you're playing well. But in the same sense I think we can maybe have an advantage in that first game."

Chris Dempsey: 303-954-1279 or cdempsey@denverpost.com