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After once leading the top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder 2-1 in their second-round playoff series, the Denver Nuggets are now facing elimination. And one insider believes Denver, in an attempt to extend the series to a seventh game, should scratch Michael Porter Jr.
Porter has been playing through a severe shoulder injury, which Porter has said is so painful he struggles to lift his left arm above his head. Of course, this has impacted Porter's play, and in this series, he is shooting 25.9% on 3-pointers, down from 44.1% in the first round vs. the Los Angeles Clippers and 39.5% in the regular season.
Porter's diminished play — he has missed all of his 10 3-point attempts over the past two games — has led The Athletic's Tony Jones to make a bold suggestion for Denver.
“If I were the nuggets – and I know this would really hurt – I wouldn’t dress MPJ tomorrow,” Jones posted on X, formerly Twitter. “It’s getting obvious that his shoulder isn’t at a place where he should be on the floor. Maybe give him a night and if denver wins try him for Game 7.”
Jones said in a subsequent post that he believes Porter is “borderline physically incapable of playing” through his shoulder injury any longer.
To Porter's credit, he has done more than most would have expected from a player dealing with an AC joint sprain, which Porter said would have taken him four to six weeks to recover from. His play in the Nuggets' seven-game first-round series win proved invaluable, even with the injury affecting him.
And Porter's presence and negative play against Oklahoma City may fall on the shoulders of interim head coach David Adelman, who has played Porter more than 30 minutes per game in this series despite Porter shooting 20% or below in every game except Game 3. Aside from his standout performance in Denver's home win in which he made five of six 3-pointers, Porter is 2-for-21 on 3-pointers and 5-for-32 from the field.
If Porter does not play, that would likely mean both Russell Westbrook, Peyton Watson, and Julian Strawther's minutes would all increase. The Nuggets' rotation had largely shrunken to seven players, including Porter, but Strawther has seemingly found a way to earn minutes more recently against the Thunder.
Game 6 will be in Denver tomorrow night at 6:30 p.m. MT.
