Nuggets guard Gary Harris is considered day-to-day with a right hip injury sustained Monday when the team played Toronto, according to Mike Singer of the Denver Post. Harris didn’t play in Wednesday’s game against Orlando, and has already been ruled out for Friday’s game in Charlotte.
“He’s out,” coach Mike Malone said this week, according to Singer. “Just a hip injury, and he’ll continue to get some treatment and see where it’s at and how long he’s gonna be out. But as of right now, he’s just day-to-day.”
Harris is a key piece in the Nuggets’ core group, averaging 16.6 points, 3.2 rebounds and 1.2 steals per game this season. Malone said he’ll take it game-by-game to determine who should start in Harris’ place for the time being.
“On that given night, which player we feel is going to be a better matchup for us in terms of who they’re guarding, who the other team offers in their starting lineup and also, it’s not just about how it affects the starting unit — how does it affect the bench unit?” Malone said. “Whether it’s Torrey, whether it’s Malik (Beasley), whether it’s somebody else, we have options and I think we can look at it game-by-game while Gary is out.”
There’s more from the Northwest Division:
- The Timberwolves had a shouting match during halftime of the game against Houston on Monday, Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic writes. As a result, the team then worked together in the second half to pull off an impressive victory. “We screamed at each other about how we wanted to fix our mistakes on defense and how we were as a group going to do it before Thibs talked to us,” Karl-Anthony Towns said. “And we went out there and did it.”
- Will Barton will be evaluated on a week-to-week basis moving forward, the Nuggets announced on Thursday. Barton continues to progress in his rehabilitation from right hip and core muscle surgery.
- John Canzano of The Oregonian casts a vote for Merritt Paulson to end up with ownership of the Trail Blazers if the team get put up for sale. Paulson is the majority owner of the Portland Timbers, a Major League Soccer team, as well as the Portland Thorns, a National Women’s Soccer League team.