Gary Harris comes up clutch again, Nuggets edge Clippers in opener

Gary Harris made one of the biggest shots of the Nuggets’ 2017-18 season when he banged home a three-pointer at the buzzer to beat the Oklahoma City Thunder on national television. Wednesday, in the Nuggets regular season opener against the Clippers, Harris again hit the night’s biggest shot with the game on the line.

With 45 seconds remaining and Denver clinging to a two-point lead, Harris got to his right hand at the top of the key, dribbled towards the hoop and put a shoulder into Clippers’ big man Montrezl Harrell. Harris got a sliver of airspace and calmly knocked down a cool 14-footer. The deuce put the Nuggets up by four, which proved to be enough.

Denver won its opener 107-98 behind Harris’ 20 points as the Nuggets move to 1-0 on the young season.

After blitzing Los Angeles for 59 points in the first, Denver went cold in the third quarter. The Nuggets scored just 15 points in the third, which allowed the Clippers to stay within striking distance. Denver took a 74-72 lead into the fourth quarter but ran into a 7-foot-3 big man who had his way with the Nuggets like he’s done time and time again over the past year.

In a similar fashion to how he took over the second half of Denver’s late-season loss against the Clippers last season, Boban Marjanovic imposed his will in the fourth. The Nuggets had no answer for Marjanovic who finished with 18 points and eight rebounds in just 18 minutes. The game even had to be paused midway through the fourth quarter to realign the Clippers’ basket after a ferocious Marjanovic slam.

The Nuggets got enough shots to fall in the fourth quarter, edging Marjanovic and the Clippers despite shooting just 37.9 percent from the field and 33.3 percent from three. The Nuggets finished the game on a 23-6 run.

Elsewhere for Denver, Nikola Jokic finished with a game-high 21 points to go with eight rebounds and five assists. Paul Millsap struggled on the offensive end of the floor but was spectacular on defense, blocking one shot, affecting many more and tallying 16 rebounds. Millsap captained a Nuggets’ defense that had an encouraging night versus the Clippers, holding Los Angeles under 100 points, to just 40.2 percent shooting from the field and 8-28 (28.6 percent) from three. Will Barton added 19 points on 6-12 shooting.

Denver faces Phoenix Saturday in its home opener.