The good news is Michael Porter Jr. wasn’t dwelling on his poor shooting night.
In the aftermath of Denver’s 123-109 loss to Portland in Game 1 of their playoff series late Saturday, Porter wasn’t stewing on his 1-of-10 night from 3-point range. Perhaps it was because that also accompanied a 25-point, nine-rebound performance, or it might’ve been because he felt his misses were on him and not the result of Portland’s schemes.
Either way, Porter didn’t show an ounce of concern that his most lethal weapon temporarily abandoned him.
“They just weren’t dropping tonight,” he said.
And the other good news? Porter was far from panicking despite the Nuggets losing homecourt advantage in Game 1.
Portland rained 19-of-40 3-pointers, which made his absence in that category even more pronounced. As a team, Denver managed just 11 for 36 from beyond the arc. Another night like that in Game 2, and the Nuggets could well be facing a 2-0 deficit heading to Portland. Not that Porter wanted to consider the ramifications.
“Itap one game,” Porter said. “We’re down 1-0. You gotta get to four wins, so we’re good. Itap just one game.”
Nikola Jokic led the Nuggets with 34 points and 16 rebounds, yet he recorded just one assist for the first time all season. Portland admitted after the game that was their intent, to play Jokic 1 on 1 and limit the damage elsewhere.
They don’t feel Jokic can beat them by himself, which is why Porter’s 3-point shooting is so significant.
“He will keep shooting,” Jokic said of his running mate. “We want him to shoot. He’s one of the best in the league. … He’s gonna shoot it, no matter what. We just need to make him take the easy ones, not the contested ones.”
The truth is that with no Jamal Murray, Porter may not have the luxury to pick and choose his looks. The Blazers tried Norm Powell, C.J. McCollum and Robert Covington on him, all with varying degrees of success. If Denver’s going to advance, none of those three can knock him off his game.
Regardless of whether Porter admits it or not, Saturday’s result adds pressure heading into Monday night.
“We don’t look at it like that,” Porter said. “We look at it as the possibility to tie up the series.”
Porter’s perspective was prudent and needed. The longer the Nuggets wallow in what Damian Lillard did to them, the slower they’ll be in fixing the leaks. Porter, who got switched onto Lillard numerous times in the third quarter, said his plan was to turn Lillard into more of a driver than a shooter.
But if the Blazers hunt the same mismatches as the series moves forward, he may be at Lillard’s mercy.
“We’re going to have to help Michael out because itap kind of what we saw in the playoffs last year,” Malone said. “They started putting Michael in every pick-and-roll, trying to really isolate and attack him. Obviously Michael has to be better, and we have to figure out ways where we can help him.”
If not, it might be a shorter series than anyone anticipated.
