It doesn’t take too deep of a dive to see just how important Michael Porter Jr. can be to the Nuggets’ playoff success.
The 2024 postseason tells the tale of Denver’s 6-foot-10 forward with an inconsistent postseason history. Porter’s 22.8 points per game were a big reason Denver needed just five games to dispatch last year’s Lakers. He shot 55.3% from the field, a staggering 48.8% from 3-point range and added averages of 8.4 rebounds and 1.2 steals. He finished LeBron James and company off by scoring 26 points on 12 shots thanks to a 5-for-7 mark from 3-point range.
Then came the Minnesota series. In a seven-game slugfest, Porter scored in double figures just twice in Denver’s second-round exit. He averaged 10.7 points and 5.7 rebounds in the series, while shooting 37.1% from the field and 32.5% from 3-point range.
It marked the second consecutive year the Nuggets faced the Timberwolves and Lakers in the postseason. The test against a different opponent, the fifth-seeded Clippers, starts with Saturday’s Game 1 at Ball Arena. The Nuggets’ and Clippers’ last postseason battle was a memorable seven-game series back in 2020.
“There’s so many new teams, so it presents a different challenge. But I think we’re just excited that we won those last three games, (and) we got the four seed,” Porter said. “We like the matchup. We think it will be a fun one against the Clippers.”
Ahead of this year’s series against Los Angeles’ second team, the Clippers, a lot of talk will be centered around the big names. Denver has built a reputation for riding its top duo, Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokic, down the stretch of tight playoff games, while Denver’s top defensive priority will be slowing two of the game’s top isolation scorers in Kawhi Leonard and James Harden.
Nuggets interim coach David Adelman understands it’s not that simple. He recalled one of his father’s Portland teams coming up short against the Lakers. Many remember Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal’s brilliance, but it was the other guys who provided the grease.
“It was Derek Fisher, Rick Fox and Robert Horry. Those guys made shots,” Adelman said after Thursday’s practice. “That’s why it loosened the game up for Kobe and Shaq. You need that from your team, and I have great confidence in these guys that they can do it.”
Porter, a 40.6% 3-point shooter for his career, can do the same for Jokic and Murray when he’s on, but that won’t be a given this series. The Clippers boast the league’s third-best defensive rating, and Porter expected to see plenty of Kawhi Leonard over the course of this series.
“He’s a great defender. I don’t know how much he wants to move off the ball and fight through screens and things like that,” Porter said Thursday. “I think he’s an amazing on-ball defender. It’s going to be fun for me, just because he is one of the best defenders in the NBA.”
When it’s not Leonard, Porter expected Kris Dunn to be his primary defender. Whatever the case, Porter expressed confidence that his team could crack the Clippers’ defensive code.
“They’ve got some great individual defenders, but either way, I think we’ve got a team that moves the ball, exploits mismatches and goes from there,” Porter said. “I’m looking forward to the matchup overall.”
