INDIANAPOLIS — Nuggets general manager Tim Connelly sat on the scorer’s table inside Madison Square Garden three days ago and shared some laughs with another general manager who has question marks throughout his roster — Knicks GM Steve Mills.

The separator is in the head coach. While speculation swirls in New York about the future of Knicks coach Mike Woodson, Connelly is a big fan of first-year Nuggets coach Brian Shaw.

And as the NBA trade deadline approaches, Connelly wants to do whatever he can to help the roller-coaster Nuggets get better.

Whether that means activity now — the trade deadline is Feb. 20 — or after the season, in the draft, remains to be seen.

“I want to get better,” Connelly said. “We’re on the phones constantly. It’s not just now. We’ve been on the phones since we got the job. I think you don’t know what opportunities are out there unless you’re just constantly probing and calling your colleagues. We want to be creative and try to make a move that allows us to take the next step.”

The only move the Nuggets must make is one involving Andre Miller. The veteran point guard has been kept away from the team since Jan. 1, after an incident in which he shouted at Shaw during a game. The Nuggets want to trade him but have found no takers. With starting point guard Ty Lawson sidelined because of a fractured rib, getting a playmaker in return for trading Miller carries increased importance. Without Lawson, who won’t play Monday at Indiana, the Nuggets have no true point guard available.

“We’ve had a lot of adversity with injuries, certainly,” Connelly said. “I think the coaching staff has done an unbelievable job keeping the group together. We’ve had a lot of very good wins and a lot of disappointing losses.

“If we want to get to where we think we belong, we can’t afford losses like that. But there’s been more good than bad.”

With two games left before the all-star break, Denver is 24-25 and well out of the playoff picture.

“I know we’re not where we’re supposed to be, but I think one game under .500 with all of those guys going down, it just shows the heart we have as a team,” said Randy Foye, who will play the point with Lawson out.

As for evaluating the team, Connelly said: “I think you have to be brutally honest with yourself. We certainly know where we have to get better. And that’s with our present personnel.”

Gone for the season because of injuries are Nate Robinson and Danilo Gallinari. JaVale McGee also is injured and unavailable.

“It makes it more difficult, but you can’t turn a blind eye to the issues that we have, and we have to be realistic and brutally honest with ourselves and see how we get better,” Connelly said.

How active will he be?

“We’ve been aggressive since we’ve gotten here,” Connelly said. “We would like to improve the team and take the next step. Certainly a return to health from some of the guys that are going to miss the rest of the season would be a big step forward.”

Christopher Dempsey: cdempsey@denverpost.com or twitter.com/dempseypost

DENVER AT INDIANA

5 p.m. Monday, ALT; 950 AM

Spotlight on Danny Granger: It’s a whole new world for Granger. The Pacers used to be his team. They wanted to build around him, but he became inconsistent. Then he began having injury problems. When the dust settled, the former New Mexico star had missed a lot of games, and the Pacers shifted their focus to a new nucleus, building around Fresno State product Paul George. Granger comes off the bench for the Pacers now, but they still win when the 6-foot-9 forward plays well. They are 10-2 this season when Granger scores 10 or more points.

NOTEBOOK

Nuggets: Point guard Ty Lawson won’t play Monday in Indianapolis. Lawson suffered a fractured rib during the first half of the Nuggets’ 126-109 loss at Detroit on Saturday. Randy Foye, who hit 9-of-16 shots and scored 25 points against the Pistons, will be the starter at the point against the Pacers. But look for Evan Fournier to get a lot of ball-handling minutes too.

Pacers: Monday’s game is the second in a back-to-back set for Indiana, which played at Orlando on Sunday. When the Pacers lost to Denver 109-96 at the Pepsi Center on Jan. 25, it was the second game of another back-to-back set for them.

Christopher Dempsey, The Denver Post