Michael Porter Jr. is not using his hand injury as an excuse for his awful 3-point shooting in the Denver Nuggets' blowout loss to the Boston Celtics at Ball Arena on Sunday. The 22-year-old forward made just one of his 12 attempts from downtown, as the Nuggs suffered a disappointing 18-point defeat at home, 105-87.
Per Mike Singer of the Denver Post, MPJ confirmed that he hurt his hand at some point in the match but denied it has something to do with his struggles.
MPJ on his hand: “I tweaked it, but it’s nothing serious.”
Even though it was on his shooting hand, he said it had nothing to do with his 1-of-12 3-point shooting night.
— Mike Singer (@msinger) April 11, 2021
While Michael Porter Jr.'s 3-point output was underwhelming, he still put up a team-high 22 points (9-of-23 FG) and grabbed 11 boards, one assist and one block in 35 minutes of play. Nikola Jokic tallied a triple-double of 17 points, 10 rebounds and 11 dimes, but the Nuggets had no answer to Boston's two-pronged attack of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.
Porter's off night, meanwhile, is unfortunate for Nuggets head coach Mike Malone considering he is usually efficient from long-range, draining 42.9 percent this season.
Some may still laud the sophomore player's guts to not get discouraged and continue taking shots that the defense gave him. However, it also speaks to MPJ's apparent questionable shot selection against the Celtics. The 6-foot-10 forward, after all, has a lot of tools on his arsenal and it seems he settled for long bombs instead of driving to the cup.
The Nuggets did play without Jamal Murray, so Porter might have taken it upon himself to be the team's top-scorer. The loss ended Denver's eight-game winning streak, but they still hold fourth place in the West with a 34-19 slate. For sure, MPJ will look to bounce back in their next match against the Golden State Warriors on Monday.
Follow Us
Subscribe