Bristow in Control With Nuggets

Allan Bristow, former Charlotte Hornet coach and Denver assistant, became the Nuggets’ vice president of basketball operations.

Bristow was an assistant coach for the Nuggets for six seasons in the 1980s. In a news conference, he said he wants to recapture the excitement of that time, when Denver reached the playoffs every year and won the Midwest Division twice.

“I don’t want to live in the past, but I want to link the past with the future,” said Bristow, who replaces Bernie Bickerstaff, hired as coach of the Washington Bullets on Monday.

Dick Motta, the Nuggets’ interim coach since November when Bickerstaff gave up the coaching job, will stay in that capacity for the time being, Bristow said.

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Celtic forward Eric Williams underwent tests at a Boston hospital, but team officials still aren’t sure why he experienced dizziness during a practice this week. . . . Milwaukee center Andrew Lang, hampered by tendinitis in his right leg, has had the leg put in a cast and will be sidelined about six weeks.