DENVER • The were a couple of surprises surrounding Kentavious Caldwell-pope’s shooting performance in his first preseason game with the Nuggets.

The veteran three-and-d wing finished

1 for 8 from the field. He wasn’t expecting the ball to find him so frequently in his 14-plus minutes of playing time.

“I wasn’t expecting to get that many during the game,” he admitted after Wednesday’s practice at Ball Arena.

The only make came after Nikola Jokic picked off a pass and threw it ahead to Jamal Murray on the right side of the court. Caldwell-pope sprinted to the front of the rim where he received a bounce pass from Murray for an uncontested dunk. Caldwell-pope, a 41% 3-point shooter for the championship Lakers two seasons ago and a 39% shooter from deep last season in Washington, missed all four of his 3-point attempts, which surprised Nuggets coach Michael Malone.

“I thought a lot of the shots he got were great shots for him,” Malone said Tuesday.

“Those shots are going to go in.”

There will be no shortage of opportunities for Caldwell-pope to heat up before the season starts. He said the coaches are telling him to run

to the corner and be ready to shoot. That message was reinforced Monday when Jokic whipped an unexpected pass to Denver’s new starting shooting guard.

“It did open my eyes. I didn’t expect it to even come to me, but they keep telling me just be in the corner, and if he sees me, he’ll get me the ball,” Caldwell-pope said. “I would’ve made it if I wouldn’t have gotten slapped in the eye.”

Jokic didn’t seem to mind that the new guy cost him a preseason assist. The fulcrum of Denver’s offense said Caldwell-pope was in the right spots and taking the correct shots.

“He was really good,” Jokic said. “I really like him.”

The chemistry between him and the rest of the starters is not a final product, Caldwell-pope said. Increased communication on and off the court can help expedite the process. But there’s still a lot of work to be done for the only newcomer in Denver’s expected starting five to eliminate other surprises.

“I got a lot to learn. They have a lot to learn about me and how I play. For me, I got four guys to try to learn to play with. They only have one,” Caldwell-pope said. “I try to fit in as much as possible, just running the floor in transition, get to the corners like the coaches always emphasize and just play defense.”

Jokic held out of part of practice

The Nuggets ramped up the competition level at Wednesday’s practice, and Nikola Jokic was held out of parts for precautionary reasons.

Jokic participated fully in Tuesday’s light practice but sat out some of the live portions Wednesday.

“We’re just going to be smart,” Malone said. “His wrist is bothering him a little bit. Nothing major but it doesn’t really make any sense to put him out there and expose it to any further contact.”

Jokic’s status for Friday’s preseason game in Chicago remains in question.