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Michael Porter Jr. had arguably the best game of his career for the Denver Nuggets on Thursday against the Portland Trail Blazers. Recently, Nuggets head coach Michael Malone opened up about the youngster's drive, and how he believes Porter is such a promising prospect.
Malone shared a recent text exchange he had with Porter:
“In between games I got three texts from Michael…saying, ‘I have to be better, I can do better, stay with me,’ all those things,” Malone explained, via Joel Rush of Forbes. “I said, ‘Michael, I'm not going anywhere. I'm gonna stay with you. You're a hell of a young player and you're gonna continue to grow.’”
Getting his coach's vote of confidence obviously worked wonders for Porter. On Thursday, he finished with 27 points on 10-of-18 shooting, along with four triples, 12 boards, two assists, two steals, a block, and zero turnovers in 34 minutes of action. It came in a loss, unfortunately, with the Nuggets falling to the Blazers with a final score of 125-115.
Porter also opened up about the aforementioned text exchange, sharing exactly what he told his coach:
“I just told him that I could bring a lot more,” Porter said. “I didn’t bring the energy, I didn’t bring the effort and enthusiasm last game, and that can never be the case.
“I just told him that I know that, and especially with Jamal and Gary and Will out, I gotta be a guy that steps up and kind of takes on a role.”
Denver is now third in the West, and is currently a game and a half behind the second-placed Los Angeles Clippers. Needless to say, there's still so much to play for for the Nuggets in its remaining seeding games. Michael Porter Jr. may be the x-factor that can bring the nuggets to greater heights.
