Redemption was cruelly taken away from Michael Porter Jr. in one disastrous sequence that left him and the Nuggets licking their various wounds.
For Denver, it was a deadlocked first-round series with the Clippers. For Porter, it was a sprained joint in his left shoulder — “nothing too serious,” he said with an optimistic look ahead to Game 3 in Los Angeles, but painful enough that he needed help putting on his hoodie Monday after a Game 2 loss.
The final score was 105-102, the decisive points scored by Norman Powell in the wreckage of Porter’s turnover with 1:35 remaining. After securing a defensive rebound in a deadlocked game, Porter fumbled an attempted outlet pass and tried to dive after the loose ball. So did Clippers guard Kris Dunn, who landed on Porter. Neither of them secured the ball. It bounced to Powell instead, and he dribbled into a go-ahead open 3-pointer.
Insult to injury.
“I made a stupid play after I got the rebound,” Porter said, “and tried to make up for it. And someone landed on my shoulder. … I’ve never experienced a pain like this in my shoulder area. I’ve had rolled ankles, so I know what I can play through with that. I’ve never had this. Luckily, it’s on my left side, not my right side, so that’s good.”
Porter was on track to emerge from Game 2 as a bounce-back hero until that moment. After getting benched in the series opener, he amassed 15 points and 15 rebounds on 6-of-11 shooting. He cleaned up the offensive glass at crucial moments, helped lead Denver’s transition attack and buried a late game-tying 3-pointer.
But the 26-year-old forward was more hung up on his costly turnover three minutes later. He circled the locker room and apologized to teammates after the loss, blaming himself.
“I thought I had someone streaking down (the floor). I was trying to advance it up,” Porter said. “But I saw that I didn’t (have someone looking for the pass), so then I ended up turning it over. Just feel like that was the biggest turnover of the game.”
The Nuggets committed 20 turnovers as a team, including an errant pass by Nikola Jokic down three with 37 seconds left.
Porter’s shoulder sprain isn’t his only health-related obstacle at the moment. Shedding more light on his recent struggles, he revealed Monday that his vital foot brace broke recently, and he hasn’t felt comfortable yet in a replacement.
“I’ve been trying to get used to a new one,” Porter said. “None of them seem to fit right, and it’s just affecting my movement. I’m not used to them. So I haven’t been as confident in my movements since that one broke.”
For three years, Porter wore the same brace underneath his left sock, supporting ankle and foot instability that stemmed from the three back surgeries he has overcome. The trouble with a new one is that playoff basketball is not an ideal time to break it in.
“It’s the worst time to deal with it,” he said.
Porter tallied only three points on four shots in Game 1 last Saturday, going scoreless after knocking down a jumper on Denver’s first possession of the series. Interim coach David Adelman closed the game with Russell Westbrook instead of Porter, emphasizing defensive impact in the low-man position as one way Porter could improve in Game 2. One of his responsibilities is to help from the weak side against opposing big men in pick-and-roll plays.
At the other end, where Porter is best, the Clippers stayed home on him around the 3-point arc, helping off of lesser shooters instead. Even in his solid bounce-back effort, he only attempted four outside shots.
His remedy for that, he said, was to show up more “ready to go” in other ways after the benching.
“I just knew that the way they’re playing me, the way they’re putting Kawhi, I’m not getting lots of open looks,” Porter said. “They’re blacking out on the plays we would run for me. They’re switching out. So I know my shots that I’m gonna get this series are transition and offensive rebounds. There’s not going to be a lot of open 3s for me, I don’t think.”
“He was better tonight,” Adelman said. “We were trying to sneak him back out after (a defensive possession in the last minute). Obviously, Michael really stretches the floor, and the way they were guarding, bringing three and four people to one side of the court, we have to find a way to make Mike an impact player in those situations. If they’re willing to leave and rotate, we can do better.”
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