If, when the 2015-16 schedule was released, Ty Lawson had any inclination to peruse it until he came across the word "Denver," it would not have taken long. The NBA, it turns out, has a sense of humor - or of drama.

"They did make it work," Lawson said of playing his old team in his first game with his new team. "It's just like any opening-day game. You just want to go out there and get the win, start the season off on the right foot.

"I knew it would be something like that. Just looking at it, I was like, 'They would put Denver first.' But it's just like any other game."

The Rockets, who open the season Wednesday night against the Nuggets at Toyota Center, acquired Lawson in July for a first-round pick and a package of players who have all since been released from Denver's roster. The Rockets got Lawson at such a bargain price because after he had a pair of DUI arrests last season, the Nuggets were ready to move on to 19-year-old rookie Emmanuel Mudiay at point guard.

Lawson, however, kept some ties.

"They're still my boys, but I still have to go after them, go hard just like they're any other team," he said. "I talk to them all the time - Gallo (Danilo Gallinari), Kenneth (Faried), Randy Foye. Basically everybody in that locker room, I talk to once a week. I didn't say anything that day because I didn't see the schedule for a couple days. But probably a couple days later, I talked to them about it."

Each step, from those conversations to Wednesday's game, moves Lawson a bit further from last season. He went through a 30-day court-ordered stay at a rehabilitation facility this past summer, but itis unclear whether the NBA will at some point suspend Lawson for the arrest last season or the one in June.

Rockets general manager Daryl Morey has said on several occasions that the team is happy with the steps Lawson has taken to address off-court issues, though Morey has not elaborated on what those steps have been.

Lucas offers hand

Lawson often leaves practice with John Lucas, the former Rockets star and longtime NBA coach who serves as a counselor for players and others at his wellness program in Houston. Lucas does not discuss the work he and Lawson have done on or off the court, saying only they are "developing relationships."

Lawson has consistently said his focus is in the gym, rather than on past off-court issues or his previous team.

Back not an issue

He returned to practice Monday after leaving Friday's preseason game against the Spurs and sitting out Saturday's workouts with a stiff back. He missed two games and nearly a week of practices after a collision during a practice in Phoenix two weeks ago but said he had no concerns about being ready for Wednesday's opener.

"I'm definitely ready," Lawson said. "We've been going hard for a month, going at each other, and had a couple preseason games. I'm definitely ready to get it started, get these wins to start piling up."

Lawson has demonstrated why the Rockets coveted his playmaking, though he and James Harden said they are unaccustomed to having someone else set them up so often at the 3-point line.

Harden made just 30 percent of his preseason 3-pointers. Lawson averaged just three assists. But both have said they are encouraged by the open shots their partnership has generated, with Lawson often running pick-and-roll on one side of the floor with Harden stationed on the 3-point line on the other side.

"Coming down, creating, he says he's getting the most wide-open shots he's gotten in a long time," Lawson said. "I think we're playing well off each other, because when he drives, I'm learning to start moving without the ball and find those open pockets where he can pass it to me, too. It's a learning experience we're still going through.

"When Pat (Beverley) is in the game, Pat's a ball-handler. I like running off down screens and getting in the paint and creating. I let him handle the ball. I took six 3s in the (second to) last preseason game. That's the most I ever took. And they were wide open. I had to take them. I like shooting the 3, getting that shot up."

Focused on the present

Lawson attempted an average of 2.7 3-pointers per game last season, making 34.1 percent. He has made 36.9 percent in his career but bumped that up to 42.9 percent in the preseason.

With that in mind, he has been going through extra shooting drills after practice and, with his return Monday, added extra sprints. None of that, he said, is inspired by Wednesday's focus, even if the coincidence made him laugh.

"I'm just focused on the Houston Rockets and what's going on now," Lawson said. "That's my No. 1 focus: now."