The Nuggets will take on the Trail Blazers and one match up to watch will be C.J. McCollum vs. Gary Harris if Harris does play.
Gary Harris still has not been clarified whether he will play or not in Portland. If he does, the key match up will be him vs. C.J. McCollum.
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Without Damian Lillard, C.J. McCollum will be called on to get the bulk of Portland’s points. As a result, Gary Harris will have to be ready to showcase his defensive prowess as McCollum is having a career year so far.
C.J. is currently averaging a career high 21 points per game on 45% shooting. On the other hand, Harris is one of the few guards in the league right now averaging nearly two steals per game. Not to mention, he is once again averaging a career high in points per game with 16.1. It is already known, but the kid just improves year in and year out.
Both of these players are guys who came up under the radar which makes their match up even more intriguing. Of course, this will all depend if Harris does play as he sat out the last game after a nasty hit to the head in the loss against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
As of right now though, we are assuming he will play. McCollum can get hot in a hurry so Denver must be ready to be quick on their defensive rotations. Harris can only do so much defensively and the team defense must be at peak performance.
It will be a game full of intriguing match ups and Jokic will battle Nurkic down low. However, the battle at the two guard spot will be crucial for this particular Northwest division game.
Next: Nuggets at Trail Blazers game preview
Both teams will be without their best players (Damian Lillard and Paul Millsap,) so McCollum and Harris will be extremely key for both of their squads.