LOS ANGELES — earned a healthy chunk of redemption on his stop-and-go season Wednesday night.
The Lakers had taken a blowtorch to Denver’s 23-point lead, and the glitzy Los Angeles crowd, already primed after surpassed Michael Jordan on the all-time scoring list, was rollicking. With just two points separating a desperate Nuggets (43-21) squad and the underwhelming Lakers, Harris put a hard stop to L.A.’s momentum.
He sunk a 3-pointer from the corner to make it 92-87 with 7:31 remaining, breathing room for a team anxious over its three-game losing streak. Then, off a broken play that was tough to even fathom on replay, served up another assist that found Harris for a three in the exact same spot.
This isn't the same play, but same result!
— Denver Nuggets (@nuggets)
Harris added two more layups, a free throw, a rebound and a reciprocal assist to Jokic before his personal assault on the Lakers was over.
“Even he had a low-post move,” Jokic joked. “I forgot about that.”
Eleven straight points and a run-capping assist to Joker. By then, the Nuggets had seized a commanding 102-91 lead. It never got to single digits again before the Nuggets won 115-99.
“We don’t win this game without him,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. “Gary never gets fazed. He’s very calm, especially when things are getting tight, and you need that. You don’t want guys out there playing tight, afraid to make mistakes. … He’s the one guy in that starting lineup that we’ve been trying to find a way to get his rhythm back.”
Harris, who’s had a trying year with a variety of maladies, rarely peels back his steely demeanor to reveal raw emotion.
“Sometimes he (says things),” said. “You just gotta watch him close.”
There was no denying his calming effect on the Nuggets after the Lakers surged back into the game with a 28-19 third quarter advantage.
“When things get hectic and things aren’t looking so great, he’s just got that attitude like ‘Hey, fellas, we’re fine,” Barton said. “Letap just get back to doing what we do.’”
Harris finished with 19 points on 8-of-11 shooting in what was easily his best game since returning from an adductor strain.
Not only did Wednesday’s win put a stop to the Nuggets’ skid, it set up a game Friday against Golden State for the No. 1 seed. If the Nuggets are to secure a top-two seed, they’ll need more than just superstar play from Jokic (12 points, 17 rebounds, 8 assists) and (19 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists).
“You saw it tonight,” Murray said. “We went to (Harris) over and over again. We’re gonna need that for the rest of the season.”
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