Kenneth Faried was hoping to play against David Lee. But as Lee, Golden State’s best post player, exits the series after suffering a season-ending torn hip flexor, Faried is set to return, making his series debut for the Nuggets in Game 2 on Tuesday.

“It would have been exciting,” Faried said. “He is an all-star and I tend to have a chip on my shoulder about that, because I think I’m able to be an all-star one day. But it would have been exciting, especially in the playoffs because he was playing at a high pace and I would have stepped up my game that much more, not just because it’s the playoffs but even more so because I’m going against an all-star-caliber player.”

Lee will be forced to watch now, just as Faried did in Game 1. It was the third consecutive game the Nuggets’ rugged rebounder missed after suffering a sprained ankle against Portland on April 14.

Sitting is no longer sitting well with Faried.

“You can’t sit me down for that long,” he said. “I get frustrated, I get mad, I start getting a hissy fit.”

The Nuggets didn’t practice Sunday but will Monday. That will be Faried’s first opportunity to really test his ankle before Tuesday’s game. Asked what percentage he thinks the ankle will be by the start of Game 2, Faried said: “It doesn’t matter. I want to play. You can’t keep a person who wants to play, down. With my job and my commitment and the things I’ve been doing with the training staff, I’m just focused and locked in and getting better. I’m going to play.”

Guessing game. With the Warriors losing Lee, Nuggets coach George Karl and his staff brainstormed for a while on what they think Golden State will do. Among the candidates to replace Lee in the Warriors’ starting lineup are Carl Landry, Draymond Green or a reach further down the bench: Richard Jefferson.

“They are different. They’ll probably play more small than big, and we’ll see how we can play,” Karl said. “Can we play that small? That’s something we talked about before, maybe putting (Andre Iguodala) on David Lee in the game plan. But now, if they are going to play Jefferson, putting A.I. on Jefferson makes sense. We’ll have to figure that out.”