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Michael Porter Jr. was understandably unhappy following a blunder of epic proportions that cost the Denver Nuggets a win against the streaking Washington Wizards on Thursday.
Shortly after the stinging 112-110 loss that dropped the Nuggets to 17-15 this season, MPJ lamented about his team’s poor decision-making down the stretch, per Mike Singer of The Denver Post.
“I looked at the play afterwards. One of us (on the Nuggets) could’ve easily cut. Honestly, I could’ve cut and got a dunk. But we were just thinking, one of us is going to get a three. If the shot goes in, no one’s talking about it.”
Down by two, Denver had a chance to tie or take the lead with five ticks remaining in regulation at Pepsi Center. They had numbers on the fastbreak and were poised to force overtime since two Nuggets players, Porter and Facundo Campazzo, had a clear lane to cut to the basket and get an easy look underneath. But for some baffling reason, both players camped outside the 3-point line during the questionable sequence.
Facundo received the pass from Jamal Murray and actually had a great look for the win for the Nuggets, but his shot barely grazed the rim. Porter was seen contented waiting for the pass on the right-wing instead of making the correct, not to mention the obvious play of cutting closer to the rim with no defender around.
For his part, Murray also took the blame for the loss since he was the one handling the rock at the time. The Blue Arrow is usually the one to take the big shots for the Nuggets on these types of situations but curiously opted to pass on this one.
Jamal Murray put this game on him. He said he should’ve shot it or given Facu a better pass. Also said he expected Porter to cut to the basket. But he came back to the ball was in his hands, and he should’ve shot it.
— Mike Singer (@msinger) February 26, 2021
Porter did finish with a double-double for the Nuggets, posting 18 points and 10 boards against the Wizards in the losing effort. For sure, he’ll be kicking himself for this brain fart in the coming days. However, MPJ must have short-term memory if he wants to help Denver get back on the winning column in their next outing.