DENVER – Timelines remain indefinite, but Michael Porter Jr. and Jamal Murray continue to take steps toward a return to the big court at Ball Arena.

After Tuesday’s practice, both of Denver’s injured stars remained on the court in the practice gym for some extra work. Porter defended Davon Reed one-on-one for a stretch, while Murray engaged in a more playful matchup with DeMarcus Cousins.

Nuggets coach Michael Malone did not say either has been cleared for contact. Both are participating in parts of practice, mostly player development drills.

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“Not that we do a lot of live and contact anyways, but like in today’s practice, I would say both those guys went through maybe 15, 20% of practice,” Malone said.

Citing a conversation with Porter’s agent, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported Sunday that Porter was progressing to be cleared for contact sometime this week. Will Barton III said he hasn’t seen Porter go through a full workout, though both Barton and Malone said Porter’s shooting stroke is still pure.

“Of course, we welcome Mike back with open arms. He’s one of our best players,” Barton said.

“Hopefully, he can just keep ramping up, feeling healthy as possible and we can integrate him back into the lineup.”

Malone reiterated Tuesday nothing is imminent.

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“Still in the early steps of trying to reintegrate those guys back slowly. As they get cleared to do more and more things, then, obviously, we can ramp it up with them,” Malone said.

“Whenever we get those guys back this year or next year, we feel the same way. We have a chance to win it when we get fully healthy. That’s our number one priority right now.”

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Time and circumstance helped reunite the Nuggets coach and DeMarcus Cousins, a player he’s advocated for since the veteran center signed his first 10-day contract with Denver in late January.

Cousins has since earned a spot on the team for the rest of the season and has been credited with bringing some consistent production to the bench. Malone compared it to last season’s addition of Austin Rivers, who was without a team and wanted to show he still belonged in the NBA.

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“For him, getting 14 to 16 minutes a night behind Nikola, it beats the alternative — being at home,” Malone said. “So he’s embraced it, and he’s making the most of it. Five years ago, would he have been able to handle it the same way? Probably not, but timing is everything, and he’s doing a good job of playing behind Nikola and anchoring that second unit.”

Seed or Best ball

When asked to pick between a better seed or feeling like they’re playing their best basketball heading into the playoffs, Malone and Barton agreed.

“I think it’s more about playing the right basketball at the right time,” Barton said. “Of course, you would like to get a good seed, get some home-court advantage, but at the same time, when you have a veteran group like us, I feel like it’s more important that we’re playing the right basketball at the right time.”

The Nuggets will enter Wednesday’s game against the Thunder 2.5 games behind the fourth seed, the last team to receive home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs. The Nuggets take a six-game win streak into a four-game homestand.

“This is our best basketball we’ve played all season long,” Malone said. “We’re getting really good contributions from our starting unit as well as from our bench. As we move forward, if we can find ways to get healthy, we can see what else we can add to the team.”