Gary Harris has not looked quite right for the majority of the 2018-19 season. He has been seen limping up and down the court during games for the past couple weeks, but never popped up on the injury report — at least not until the night of November 23rd.
Harris has been a full participant in practice all year so there never seemed to be a reason to list him on the Nuggets’ injury report, but it was becoming more and more clear as time went on that Harris was not fully healthy. He is shooting just 44.1 percent from the field and 32.3 percent from three-point distance so far this year and it is impossible not to wonder if Harris’ health has something to do with his drop in efficiency. Both of those percentages are the lowest they have been since his rookie season over three years ago.
Then, at home against the Orlando Magic on the night of November 23rd, Harris’ health finally got the better of him. He was unable to finish the game and was removed in the fourth quarter with an injury. After the Denver defeated the Orlando Magic, Nuggets’ head coach Michael Malone alerted the media in his postgame press conference that Harris had been dealing with an injury that ended up being described as left ankle soreness later in the night.
Harris, who is one of the toughest players in the league, wanted to play through the pain the following night against the Oklahoma City Thunder, but Malone made the calculated decision to rest Harris against the Thunder and allow him more time to heal up.
“Maybe I have to make sure I guard against that a little bit and help protect him from himself if I can,” Malone said when asked about if Harris playing through an injury after the Nuggets beat the Magic.
There were many applicable reasons for Malone to hold Harris out of Denver’s game in Oklahoma City. The Nuggets matchup with the Thunder was set to be Denver’s third game in four nights, it was the second game of a back to back, and once Nuggets’ matchup with the Thunder ended, they had two-consecutive days off before taking on the Los Angeles Lakers. If Harris was to sit out against the Thunder, that would give him a full three days to rest.
Because of all of those reasons, Malone pulled Harris aside once they arrived in Oklahoma City and broke the news that he would be sitting out to nurse his sore left ankle instead of taking on the Thunder.
“My thought was — and I told him this when we got to the arena — I said, ‘I want to shut you down tonight. I know you want to go out there and see how you feel, but (it is) the third game in four nights, second night of a back to back, and you were not able to finish the game against Orlando.”
So, against his wishes, Harris sat out in Oklahoma City and Torrey Craig was slotted into the starting lineup as Harris’ replacement. Malone was not willing to let his starting shooting guard risk further injury by toughing it out and playing through the pain. Malone wanted to get Harris some rest so Harris was inactive for the first time all season.
“It is a long season and my concern was, if he plays, are we risking more injury and a further absence? So, (we are) just trying to protect our guys whenever we can,” Malone explained at practice on Monday after defeating the Thunder in Oklahoma City. “Gary wanted to play. He is a competitor and he wanted to go out there and help his teammates, but it was more of a decision of me trying to protect him from himself.”
Now, Harris has been able to rest for three-straight days, but his availability for the Nuggets’ matchup with the LeBron James-led Los Angeles Lakers is still to be determined. Malone was asked about Harris’ availability at practice on Monday, but there was no clarity on if Harris will or will not be participating on Tuesday night.
“Hopefully,” Malone sand when asked if Harris will play on Tuesday night against the Lakers. “Obviously, he will get more treatment today and we will see how he feels in the morning.”
The Nuggets will almost assuredly wait to see how Harris’ left ankle responds after shootaround and will not make a final decision on his availability until after he goes through pregame warmups. The Nuggets are going to desperately need Harris for the remainder of the 2018-19 season, so getting him back to full health is going to be their first priority.
Through the first 20 games of the 2018-19 season, Harris is averaging 16.8 points, 3.4 rebounds, three assists, and 1.3 steals per game while shooting 44.1 percent from the field and 32.3 percent from 3-point distance.
