Michael Porter Jr. came to a realization during the weeks he was away from the Nuggets.
While abiding by the NBA’s health and safety protocols from January 1st to January 19th, he saw Denver’s defense perk up. He noticed the starters meshing once again. He watched as Will Barton, the former starter before Porter earned the job in December, was beginning to get comfortable.
And upon his return in Phoenix on Friday night, he didn’t bemoan the loss of his starting spot.
“Coming back into the rotation after being out so long, that was my mindset,” Porter said after scoring a team-high 30 points and snatching eight rebounds in Denver’s 117-113 win over Dallas on Monday night. “We had been playing pretty good, I just wanted to come in and help the team any way I could. Will was playing really good at the three, and I didn’t want to mess anything up. I just wanted to come in and give a spark off the bench. Now, me and those guys have really developed a chemistry.”
No one outside of Nuggets coach Michael Malone knows whether it will stay this way. Nor, frankly, should anyone care. Not with the way Porter closed on Monday night or the way the second unit pounded Dallas’ reserves 63-29.
Following Jamal Murray’s ejection in the third quarter, Porter took over. When he checked into the game with 4:28 left in the third, the Mavs were on a 9-0 run, evidently enthused following Murray’s apparent cheap shot to Tim Hardaway Jr. It got to 90-83, in favor of Dallas, before it got any better.
Playing alongside Nikola Jokic, JaMychal Green, Monte Morris and Gary Harris, Porter and the Nuggets ripped off a 9-4 run to close the quarter and seize momentum.
It was more of the same in the fourth, with Denver’s second unit flipping the game on its head and their plucky defense undermining any chance at a Dallas run. Porter, whose 18 second-half points more than doubled Jokic, their next-highest scorer, didn’t come out the rest of the night.
Asked whether he appreciated Porter’s readiness to contribute in the moment, Malone made a striking point.
“I would say, as opposed to appreciating it, I expect it,” Malone said.
For all the times Malone hasn’t wanted to single out Porter, elevating him above the rest of the team, it was a signal of the trust Porter’s built in his coach. When things are trending sideways, as they were in the stunning aftermath of Murray’s ejection, Malone knows he has a no-conscious sniper who can score no matter the situation.
“I definitely don’t back away from the moment,” Porter said. “I’m just as confident when there’s two minutes left on the clock as when there’s 20 minutes.”
That much was obvious when Porter buried a corner 3-pointer to give the Nuggets a commanding 114-107 lead with :42 seconds remaining, then kissed his right shooting hand, a smile beaming across his face.
His 3-point eruption – that dagger marked his sixth of the night – was an unnecessary reminder of how devastating his outside stroke can be.
And then Malone made another point, one that fans and media alike tend to fixate on.
“Everybody gets caught up in who starts,” Malone said, though he wasn’t asked about the starters.
“That’s such a big thing, for everybody,” he said. “I don’t really understand it. If you have a chance to close the game, that’s more important than hearing your name before a game in an arena with no fans. Anyways, I digress.”
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“I’m not surprised by anything Michael does,” Malone said. “He’s supremely talented.”
In the three games he’s been back, Porter’s averaged 17.0 points on 53% shooting, including 55% from 3-point range, along with 8.3 rebounds in 27 minutes per game.
“He ain’t skip a beat,” said JaMychal Green. “I don’t know if he’s got a gym in his own house or whatever, but it seems like he hasn’t even missed a game.”
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