Gary Harris taking longer than "anticipated" to return from injury

DENVER — Nuggets starting shooting guard Gary Harris has missed Denver’s last nine games with a right knee sprain/strain and he’ll miss his 10th straight tonight when the Nuggets host the Minnesota Timberwolves.

He’ll also likely miss Denver’s matchup Saturday against the Los Angeles Clippers. A more realistic return date for Harris is on Monday versus the Trail Blazers — the Nuggets’ second-to-last game of the season.

“This is 10 games now, three weeks since he hurt it against Detroit, longer than I think anybody anticipated but it’s just not where it needs to be for him to come back,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. “Clippers? Maybe. But probably best-case scenario is Portland and that’s still not a certainty.”

Harris hurt his knee March 15 against the Pistons. He leads the Nuggets in minutes per game (34.8 mpg) and led the team in scoring (17.7 ppg) before he went out.

Will Barton has stepped into the starting lineup in Harris’ absence and performed well. Paul Millsap is also playing his best basketball since he returned after missing 44 games because of a left wrist injury. Both players, along with Jamal Murray, who’s averaging 18.4 points per game since Harris got hurt, have helped make up for his absence.

“Will Barton’s consistency and Paul Millsap getting a lot more comfortable and confident. The emergence of those two players have allowed us to kind of handle those 18 points a night that Gary Harris, who was our leading scorer, is not bringing to the table right now because of the injury to his knee,” Malone said.