Look who’s back for Nuggets: Gary Harris plays against Blazers

Gary Harris, the Nuggets’ secondleading scorer, returned to play Monday night against Portland after missing the previous 11 games with an injured right knee.

Guard Harris entered the game at the 3:44 mark of the first quarter. Coach Michael Malone said before the game that Harris would come off the bench and play from 16 to 22 minutes in an effort to ease him back physically and keep continuity with a starting lineup that anchored Denver’s fivegame winning streak entering Monday. Will Barton averaged 18.5 points, 5.3 rebounds and 3.7 assists while starting in Harris’ place over those 11 games, including a 31-point effort in Saturday’s win over the Clippers.

“I would temper the expectations on (Harris’) effectiveness tonight,” Malone said before the game. “By no means will we try to overdo it with him and risk injuring his knee or making him uncomfortable out there.”

But Harris’ return gives a final boost to Denver’s playoff push with now one regular-season game remaining in a tight Western Conference playoff race. The Nuggets entered Monday tied with Minnesota for the eighth and final postseason spot.

“Gary’s an important part (of our team),” Malone said. “If we are able to win out and make the playoffs, Gary Harris would be a very important piece in the postseason. The faster we can get him back getting game minutes, I think it’s only going to help him.”

Harris, who entered Monday averaging 17.7 points and 1.8 steals per game while shooting 39.9 percent from 3point range, suffered the injury when he landed awkwardly on his right leg after being fouled on a dunk late in the fourth quarter of a home win March 15 against Detroit. The timetable for his return had consistently been pushed back throughout his recovery, and Malone said before Saturday’s win at the Clippers that the Nuggets were preparing to play the rest of the regular season without Harris.

But since then, the Nuggets’ medical staff was encouraged by how Harris looked while going through 3-on-3 contact work Sunday and during an evaluation Monday morning. Malone said he would monitor how Harris moved laterally on defense during Monday’s game.

Jokic honored. Nuggets center Nikola Jokic was named the Western Conference player of the week, the NBA announced Monday.

Jokic, who earned that honor for the second time this season, averaged 23.0 points, 10.3 rebounds, 9.0 assists, 2.3 steals and 1.0 blocks over the Nuggets’ three wins from April 2-8 to keep Denver alive in a tight Western Conference playoff chase. He shot 51 percent from the floor and 42.9 percent from 3-point range over that stretch.

Jokic compiled his ninth triple-double of the season in Saturday’s win over the Clippers with 23 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists.

“You get those awards when your team is winning,” Malone said. “If Nikola is putting up those numbers on a losing team, he wouldn’t get recognized. I think it speaks to Nikola’s brilliance on the court. But, more important, it speaks to the fact that everybody thinks we’re out of the playoffs and we win five in a row. … That award really goes to not just Nikola but all of his teammates, as well.”

Jokic is the first Nugget to be named Western Conference player of the week multiple times in one season since Carmelo Anthony in 2009-10.