Everyone thought that the Denver Nuggets were headed for an epic collapse when Jamal Murray went down for the season.
Most people credit leading MVP candidate Nikola Jokic for keeping the team afloat, and for good reason. But Michael Porter Jr. has also made the leap in the absence of Murray.
The Nuggets forward's emergence has been so rapid that he's found himself in elite company with none other than the NBA record master himself, Wilt Chamberlain.
Highest eFG% in a season, min 19 PPG:
68.3% — Wilt Chamberlain
64.6% — Michael Porter JrWe’ve just seen the 2nd most efficient 19+ PPG season in NBA history. pic.twitter.com/LvDEF5MKFT
— StatMuse (@statmuse) May 17, 2021
Porter Jr. has upped his scoring output mightily in his second playing year with the Nuggets. He went from 9.3 points last season, to 19.0 points per contest this year. But as amazing as a 10-point jump in scoring is, it's his efficiency that's just gone off the charts.
MPJ went from a solid 50.9% from the field to 54.2% this season. His three-point shooting improvement has been even crazier, as his 42.2% on nearly three attempts last year was already amazing. But this year, he's making 44.5% of his threes for the Nuggets on more than double the attempts at 6.3 per game.
Obviously, Nikola Jokic is a big part of Michael Porter Jr.'s leap. The Joker's elite vision and scoring prowess of his own allow MPJ to get great looks on offense. But it's still up to Porter Jr. to capitalize on those looks, and boy has he ever.
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