Michael Malone read the box score without double-taking and laid out his expectation.
“Eight rebounds, 17 points, two blocks,” the Nuggets coach said after a 108-105 win over the Warriors on Wednesday night. “That should be the standard for Michael Porter. We shouldn’t be surprised by it. We should expect it every night.”
The more Malone is asked about increased maturity or defensive evolution for Michael Porter Jr., the more he doubles down on his belief that what spectators envision as Porter at his best should actually be Porter at his average. He has an individual net rating of plus-13 points per 100 possessions so far this season.
“I should perform every night,” Porter said. “If my three’s not falling, I’ve gotta get to the line. I’ve gotta crash the glass. I’ve gotta get some easy ones. When my three is falling, thatap how those games turn into really big games. But I should be producing every night on the glass, scoring the ball in different ways.”
MPJ’s 17-point, eight-rebound outing against Golden State was actually his least impressive stat line of Denver’s perfect four-game home stand. He scored 22 or more in the previous three games, shooting 45.8% from 3-point range. That number took a dip Wednesday with a 3-for-8 night beyond the arc, below the perimeter efficiency expected of Porter, but that’s exactly the point. After playing his way into shape the first few games of the season, Porter is more comfortable on his recently sprained ankle, more diverse offensively and still consistent on the boards.
With Jamal Murray injured, the Nuggets need Porter’s scoring. They showed that dependence in him by trying to find him mismatches throughout the marquee game against Golden State. Porter clearly entered the matchup with an aggressive mindset, scoring 10 quick points with the starters in the first quarter.
But his most important contribution of the Nuggets’ grittiest win yet transpired during his second-unit minutes.
“Team definitely needed a spark,” he said. “Warriors had got back in it. … It felt like it was kind of now or never. We didn’t want them to pick the heat up quick.”
The fourth quarter started with Porter guarding Jonathan Kuminga, but on the first possession of the quarter, Christian Braun got switched onto Kuminga.
With a size mismatch, Kuminga backed down Braun. Then Porter intervened with an emphatic block in weak-side help. An unlucky bounce led to a Golden State three nonetheless, but the evidence of Porter’s improved defensive habits lingered.
Denver was now trailing 81-76, facing the next five minutes without Nikola Jokic, who had played the entire third. Porter and Aaron Gordon were the only usual starters on the floor, aided by makeshift starting point guard Reggie Jackson.
MPJ’s offense would be essential. With 1.1 seconds on the shot clock of Denver’s next possession, he weaved around the perimeter to get open on a baseline inbound play, knocking down a tough off-balance jumper. Golden State tried to answer by isolating Moses Moody against Justin Holiday, but Porter recognized he could abandon his matchup again. He swatted Moody for a second consecutive weak-side help block, and this time those defensive habits paid off — the loose ball resulted in a fast-break layup for Jackson and an immediate Steve Kerr timeout.
Down two on their first offensive possession out of the timeout, the Nuggets ran an action hunting Porter’s shot and resulting in a 3-pointer from the top of the key. In 90 seconds, Porter had turned the five-point danger-zone deficit into an 83-82 lead. That was enough to last the Nuggets three more minutes, treading water until Jokic returned with 7:05 remaining and a 92-91 advantage.
When Porter came back with four minutes left, he was the primary crunch-time defender on Klay Thompson, a massive indicator of the team’s trust in his defensive progress. In the remaining minutes, the Warriors never attempted to play iso-ball against Porter and never attempted to shoot over him, in stark contrast to the Mavericks’ repeated attempts to stick Porter on an island five days earlier.
As Gordon predicted, Porter’s performance against Luka Doncic might have sent a strong message.
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