Harris could return Monday at Sixers or Tuesday at Raptors

CHICAGO» Nuggets leading scorer Gary Harris (knee sprain/ strain) missed his third consecutive game Wednesday night against the Bulls. He’s also likely to sit out Friday’s contest at Washington, making Monday’s game at Philadelphia or Tuesday’s visit to Toronto the “bestcase scenario” for Harris to return, coach Michael Malone said at Wednesday morning’s shootaround at the United Center.

“As important as these games are, we’re not gonna risk Gary Harris going out there and hurting himself further,” Malone said. “We care about Gary Harris too much, and we know how important he is to our future.”

Harris, who is averaging 17.7 points per game while shooting 48.6 percent from the floor, including 39.9 percent from 3-point range, was able to do limited work in shootaround Wednesday but still has not done a lot of running, Malone said.

Harris sustained the injury late in the fourth quarter of last Thursday’s win against Detroit, when he landed awkwardly on his right leg after being fouled on a made dunk.

Malone publicly lamented the timing of the injury, since the reason Harris was on the floor at the time is because the Pistons had rapidly sliced a 26-point deficit to single digits.

“I get so angry that we allowed a 26-point lead against Detroit to slip away that we had to put those guys back in,” Malone said. “That should have never been the case …

“If Gary Harris plays in Memphis and Gary Harris plays in Miami, I think we start this road trip 2-0 and there’s a much different vibe to what we’re feeling right now.”

Will Barton, who entered Wednesday averaging 15 points per game but is shooting just 36.6 percent from the floor (37-of-101) over his last eight games, started again in Harris’ place against the Bulls.

Getting comfortable. Devin Harris, whom the Nuggets acquired at last month’s trade deadline, acknowledges he’s still fighting muscle memory created during his time with Dallas on elements such as play calls and schemes on both ends of the floor. He’ll still sometimes seek counsel from the Nuggets’ bench during games, asking if he ran the correct set.

But the veteran guard is steadily gaining more control of the offense, leading to a recent uptick in production with an average of 11.7 points and 4.3 assists over his past three games entering Wednesday. He was also getting to the free-throw line 5.7 times in 23 minutes over that span, a result of hard drives to the basket and drawing contact on jumpers.

“It’s coming with being more aggressive and understanding where my opportunities are and how to make the most of it,” Harris said.

Harris’ growing comfort has also allowed Jamal Murray to play more off the ball, putting him in position to come off screens for catch-and-shoot attempts. Murray, who is wrapping up his first season as an NBA starting point guard, also compared Harris’ impact to former Nugget Jameer Nelson’s last season.

“His experience really comes in handy to play the 1 and 2 guard,” Murray said.