Nikola Jokic can’t carry the Nuggets by himself, and that showed on Tuesday night as his 44 points and 15 rebounds weren’t enough for Denver in a pivotal Game 5 that swung the momentum of the series in favor of the Oklahoma City Thunder. While Jokic made five of his seven 3-point attempts in the loss, no one else on the team could find their stroke from outside.

Michael Porter Jr., who is making the same amount of money as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander this season, didn’t make a single one of his 3-pointers in the loss, continuing his slump that has hurt the Nuggets so far in the Western Conference Semifinals. He’s scored eight or fewer points in four of the five games, shooting just 2-for-21 from distance in those four games.

He did have a great performance in Game 3 as he made 5-of-6 3-pointers en route to 21 points. Outside of that performance, it’s been tough sledding for a guy who’s making max contract money.

Jokic, who was in a slump of his own until his Game 5 explosion, kept it simple when asked what he is telling Porter to try and keep his confidence up.

“Keep shooting,” Jokic said.

Porter, who shot 44% from deep in the first round series against the LA Clippers, has been battling the shoulder sprain that he suffered in Game 2 of the playoffs that has greatly limited his mobility. There’s a reason why it looks like he has football pads over his left shoulder whenever he takes the floor.

Porter is getting paid all this money to shoot the ball, and the last thing that Jokic needs is for his 6-foot-10 sharpshooter to stop doing that.

“Nobody wants to miss shots, of course, and he’s probably one of the best shooters in the league. When he cannot make shots he’s definitely frustrated with himself, but he’s open, he needs to take it, and we want him to take a shot.”

While Porter shot well overall against the Clippers, it was yet another series in which he had at least three games in which he scored seven or fewer points. This series against Oklahoma City marks the third consecutive series in which he’s done that, dating back to the West Semis against the Minnesota Timberwolves last year.

In his playoff career (73 games), Porter has scored 20 or more points just 14 times, while he’s scored 0-9 points 24 times. His 3-point percentage is 37.7%, down from his career regular season average of 40.6%. He’s had his share of phenomenal series, like the first round against the Los Angeles Lakers last year, but he’s also had plenty of poor ones, like the one he’s currently slumping in.

It’s not just the shooting, either. He hasn’t been engaged defensively for Denver at all times, and he hasn’t been rebounding the ball as well as he has shown he can.

If he was making the same amount of money as Josh Hart is for the Knicks or Rui Hachimura is for the Lakers, Porter’s performances wouldn’t be as big of a deal. However, when you make max contract money, you need to play like a max contract player in the postseason, and he hasn’t done that for Denver so far in these playoffs at a consistent level.

While the shoulder injury is bothering him, this isn’t something new from the forward out of Missouri. He’s had great performances against the Hornets in February, but the Nuggets need him to have a great performance in the playoffs when all the chips are on the table. He’s shown that he can fight the injury to do so, like he did in Game 3, and the Nuggets need him to find that form again if they don’t want to go home in the Conference Semifinals for a second consecutive season.