The Denver Nuggets will take on the Chicago Bulls and the match up to watch is Gary Harris vs. Zach LaVine.
The Denver Nuggets are coming in trying to start a new win streak. After a win over the New Orleans Pelicans, the team is still trying to find it’s balance.
They have started to get back to their normal offensive firepower somewhat scoring over 100 points the last few games, but they have also started slacking on the defensive end of the floor.
In the past three games, they have allowed their opponents to score over 100 points. Very different to the first three games of the year when they did not give up 100 points to opponents, which included the defending champion, Golden State Warriors.
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For this game, the match up which will dictate the outcome will be the shooting guard battle. Gary Harris against Zach LaVine.
Harris has been on a tear this season as he is averaging a career best defensive rating of 106 to go along with a career high offensive rating of 126. He is also averaging an effective field goal percentage of 53.8% as well as a career high in assist percentage of 18%. His play making ability has drastically improved as well as he is averaging 3.8 assists per game which is a big jump from his 2.9 per game average last year.
LaVine on the other hand, is averaging an insane 28.1 points per game which is a definite career high for the young shooting guard. He is shooting an outstanding 38.6% from three which could prove to be one of Harris’ toughest defensive tests of this young season. His offensive rating is sitting at 110 and he also possesses a career high offensive box plus/minus of 3.3 so far this season.
With these numbers in mind, this will be a very intriguing match up to watch as the Nuggets look to maintain the second seed in the Western Conference. Chicago will always have a chance if LaVine keeps putting up these insane offensive numbers though, which brings us back to the thesis of the article.
Whoever gets the upper hand in this battle will most likely have a big say in which teams comes out victorious.