The Nuggets have a Michael Porter Jr. dilemma.
His persistence is to them a lifeline or a liability, any given night. The longer they hang around in these playoffs, the more consequential his vacillations become.
He managed to shoot 44% from 3-point range in the first round while nursing a sprained AC joint in his left shoulder. He was the poster boy for the Nuggets’ collective resilience in a first-round series played under unusual circumstances, without a full-time head coach or general manager. They won three of the last four games to prevail over the Clippers; he knocked down 11 of his 22 outside jumpers during that span, then he asked for help removing his jersey after the games. Lifting his left arm was a chore. Don’t even get him started on his leg brace situation.
His toughness was a crutch. More recently, its effect has been destabilizing. Entering Game 3 against the Thunder on Friday night, Porter was having a 3-for-18 series from the floor.
Disappointed in his own lack of production, he still felt it was essential that he forge ahead.
“I just think that it’s do-or-die for our team, so I don’t feel the pull to really try to rest it,” Porter explained. “I think if I’m not able to perform out there, then they put someone else in there that’s able to perform better for the team, then that’s what we’ve gotta do. But I’m gonna definitely go out there and try. Because I might be able to make an impact. Some shots might go down. I’ve just gotta be very selective with how I play.”
It’s a delicate needle to thread. Oklahoma City preys on indecision — a harsher word for selectiveness. For example, as Nuggets interim coach David Adelman pointed out, “the two-handed rebound against this team is so important.” Porter has been limited to one. The inability to raise the left can render his height advantage ineffective on the glass.
And if Porter isn’t rebounding, his defensive value diminishes. His presence on the court reduces toward being one-dimensional, justified almost entirely by his picturesque jumper. That the injury resides in his non-dominant arm offered a glimmer of hope from the outset — but he still has to bring his left hand up with the ball to escort and support the other components of his form, even if he follows through with the right.
“It just feels a little clunky right now,” Porter said. “A little off with that guide hand.”
It doesn’t help either that All-Star Jalen Williams is spending a healthy portion of minutes guarding Porter.
“You can tell when he shoots it, he’s having a hard time with the full release at the top of his shot,” Adelman said. “It’s almost like it’s stopping at 90%, 85%. … That’s such an important thing for us. If they’re gonna double and triple (against Nikola Jokic) and shrink the floor and all those things, Michael has to eat on that weak side.”
When Porter’s not eating, the Nuggets are in danger of starvation. Their depth chart lacks the fortitude to hang with the Thunder’s, especially if an injury eliminates anyone from the rotation. Adelman has relied on Russell Westbrook to close in Porter’s more anonymous games — including the first of this series — and the results have been mostly favorable despite complications with the spacing of Denver’s two-man game.
Porter has seemingly grown more accepting of that lineup option throughout the last two rounds, if only because he recognizes when his abilities are in a jail of his own design. It was his turnover late in Game 2 against the Clippers, and his determination to compensate by diving after a loose ball, that caused the injury.
But even if he can’t close, he intends to play. He was informed that a Grade Two sprain would normally take four to five weeks to heal. It’s been 19 days, as of Saturday.
Porter calls that mind over matter. The catch-22 is that suiting up through the pain has probably decelerated the recovery process. Maybe he doesn’t mind, but that does matter.
“Immobilizing the joint is the fastest way to heal it, and obviously I haven’t been able to do that with the games,” Porter said. “I’ve chosen to play. But that’s not an excuse. Like, if I’m gonna go out there and play, then I’ve gotta play well. I’m just so limited out there. So I’m not able to do what I want to do offensively, defensively, on the glass. Everything’s a little hard. But that’s not an excuse. I’ve gotta play better if I’m gonna go out there and play.”
