Gary Harris: changing Clippers nickname since Game 7
In Game 6, Denver Nuggets coach Mike Malone played Gary Harris 42 minutes. Malone’s faith in Harris has been justified, as he has been instrumental in Denver’s late-game comebacks.
His college coach at Michigan State, Tom Izzo, taught him well. He just does the little things better than everybody else. Expect his pro coach, Mike Malone, to put him on LeBron James in crunch time when Grant is downshifted a position to guard Anthony Davis. Jokic will likely end up on either Markeiff Morris or Kyle Kuzma.
Harris forever changed the lives of two prominent Clippers (or at least their nicknames): Paul George went from Playoff P to Pandemic P; Lou Williams went from Lou Will to Lemon Pepper Lou. When he was not making the Clippers question their life choices, he made a very impressive coast-to-coast finish after he intercepts an errant Paul George pass.
Defense ➡️ offense courtesy of @thats_G_ https://t.co/vhwiPgSGky
— Denver Nuggets (@nuggets) September 16, 2020
We will, again, politely ignore Pandemic P’s decision to make a cross-court pass when he was under the basket. Pandemic P’s performance formally changed Kawhi Leonard’s nickname from Board Man to Bored Man. Kawhi only got six boards! Board man got paid over $30 million this season… and only got 6 rebounds to show for it!
Side note: Lou Williams filed a trademark for Lemon Pepper Lou. Even when my guy takes two major L’s, he still gets a W out of it.
Harris will be the late-game choice to guard LeBron James. Denver’s preferred crunch time lineup is a bit smaller: either Michael Porter Jr (whose press conference complaining after Game 4 may have indirectly sparked another Denver series comeback) or defensive specialist Torrey Craig (who will get spot minutes on LeBron) closes games out.
Harris is in theory going to be overpowered inside. But he is a Michigan State Spartan. Spartans never retreat, never surrender.
Conclusion:
LeBron and AD will have to work for his points down the stretch. One of the unsung heroes on Denver can at least neutralize one aspect of their overall dominance: Millsap can muscle up to LeBron and AD on the low block; Grant is long and athletic to contest all of their jump shots and finishes at the basket (most importantly, disciplined enough to not foul while doing so); Harris can make things uncomfortable for LeBron as he brings the ball up with his tenacious on-ball pressure defense. The other guys who play alongside Murray and Jokic are legit NBA starters.
I am stopping short of making a prediction because I have been wrong nearly every single time. I will only say those three figure to play an integral part in this series.
On to Friday night!