Denver Nuggets starting shooting guard Gary Harris (right knee strain/sprain) will miss his third consecutive game Wednesday against the Chicago Bulls, the team announced.
Harris injured his knee in a scary fall in the fourth quarter of Denver’s 120-113 win over the Detroit Pistons on March 15. He’s with the Nuggets’ on their current seven-game road trip and Denver hopes he’ll return to the lineup over its next few games.
X-rays on Harris’ knee came back negative and he was diagnosed with a knee strain/sprain following an MRI that night.
After Wednesday’s date with the Bulls, Denver has road games against the Wizards, 76ers, Raptors and Thunder before returning home for a matchup on April 1 against the Milwaukee Bucks.
Harris leads the Nuggets in scoring (17.7 points) and minutes (34.8) this season. In his absence, Will Barton has stepped into the starting lineup and logged 34 minutes against the Grizzlies and 46 minutes in Denver’s double-overtime loss to the Heat on Monday. Barton is expected to start again Wednesday in Chicago.
With 11 regular season games remaining, Denver is two games behind the Minnesota Timberwolves for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.
Nuggets coach Michael Malone told reporters in Memphis that Harris could return in three or four games.
