though his inconsistency is maddening<\/a> \u2014 guaranteed the Nuggets woke up with a 2-1 series lead in the Western Conference semifinals.<\/p>\nAaron Gordon made another shot. Over a two-week span, he has become more clutch than Mr. Goodwrench. And Jamal Murray received a 10 from the X-game judges for his degree of difficulty on lay-ups.<\/p>\n
But those things, while brilliant, are not uncommon. What MPJ did was as unexpected as hitting the lottery. Yes, it looked that bleak for him. Be honest.<\/p>\n
So, what changed?<\/p>\n
\u201cA couple of days in between is helping at this point. I felt a little bit better overall today. I was trying to space out and not do the injection every game, but right now it\u2019s needed,\u201d Porter said. \u201cI still don\u2019t feel like I can play physically or bum guys the way I would like to. But I am able to do what I can.\u201d<\/p>\n
MPJ has a face made for a magazine cover. Even his shadow beard is stylish. He looks like he is ready to cut an album or drop another podcast.<\/p>\n
He looks soft. Don\u2019t fall for it.<\/p>\n
![\"Michael](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/TDP-L-NUGGETS-THUNDERAO5_6237x.jpg\")
Michael Porter Jr. (1) of the Denver Nuggets misses a lob as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) of the Oklahoma City Thunder defends during the third quarter of the Nuggets\u2019 113-104 win at Ball Arena in Denver on Friday, May 9, 2025. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz\/The Denver Post)<\/p>\n
There is no one tougher on the Nuggets roster. Diagnosed with a sprained AC joint, he can only play if his shoulder is numb. And wrapped. He turns the training staff into MacGyver, using tape, patches, painkillers \u2014 everything but duct tape and chicken wire.<\/p>\n
When he hurt his shoulder diving for a loose ball in Game 2 of the Clippers series, he was told he would need 4 to 6 weeks recovery time.<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew I wasn\u2019t doing that,\u201d Porter said.<\/p>\n
Basketball has healing powers for Porter. He has not missed a game \u2014 even though there was a strong argument to rest him \u2014 and it paid dividends.<\/p>\n
He made a few buckets at the end of the Game 2 debacle. And when he drained his first 3 just three minutes into Friday\u2019s first quarter, it triggered arguably the best postseason performance of his career.<\/p>\n
He turned frustration into inspiration.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t even know what he\u2019s going through. I can\u2019t even believe he\u2019s playing,\u201d teammate Peyton Watson said. \u201cHe\u2019s making big-time plays, rebounding. I am super happy for him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Porter could have pulled the curtain on his season without any pushback. His career, however, has been defined by overcoming odds. He has had multiple back surgeries and is required to wear a special shoe to relieve pain in his foot.<\/p>\n
Every day, he has learned to navigate physical obstacles. But what about the mental demons? It cannot be easy to hear fans, and, yes, sports columnists, fire off criticism like paintballs in his direction.<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew there would be games where I couldn\u2019t produce the way I wanted to or didn\u2019t play as many minutes as I wanted to, but it\u2019s the playoffs. I wanted to at least try,\u201d said Porter, who is averaging 10.7 points per game in the postseason. \u201cIt\u2019s been an up-and-down (postseason) for me, but that\u2019s OK because we are in a good position as a team. And I have had some games where I have gotten some shots to go down.\u201d<\/p>\n
It is impossible to overstate Porter\u2019s importance in the first half. Jokic was 2 for 9 from the field and in the middle of an 0-for-10 night from beyond the arc. The Thunder players make it their life\u2019s work to own the paint defensively. The only way to create consequences for packing it in is by knocking down deep jumpers.<\/p>\n
Porter contributed three 3s over the first 24 minutes. That is one more than he had in the first two games.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen Michael is making shots, it makes the court feel that much bigger,\u201d Nuggets interim coach David Adelman said. \u201cI am really proud of him. He\u2019s getting treatment every day. He\u2019s just trying to stay alive in this thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Nuggets are who we wanted the Avs to be \u2014 gritty, grimy, at their best when the alarms are blaring. And they also know a dirty little secret: The Thunder can\u2019t close, so staying close matters even more in this series.<\/p>\n
Porter kept the Nuggets connected.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe is going through a lot,\u201d Murray said. \u201cIt says a lot about his resilience and love of the game.\u201d<\/p>\n
As Porter left the podium on what was then Saturday morning, he looked a little more comfortable. Maybe it was the ice pack underneath his jacket. Or just maybe it was because his hot-shooting gave the Thunder the cold shoulder.<\/p>\n
Want more Nuggets news? Sign up for the Nuggets Insider to get all our NBA analysis.<\/a><\/p>\nOriginally Published: May 10, 2025 at 2:11 AM MDT<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Burdens are for shoulders strong enough to carry them. Even if the left one requires a needle full…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":22965,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3783],"tags":[877,7,250,187,762,165,764,252,6,11,253,302,310,475,179,3966,3965,1146,66,198,312,3788,574],"class_list":{"0":"post-22964","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-oklahoma-city-thunder","8":"tag-aaron-gordon","9":"tag-basketball","10":"tag-david-adelman","11":"tag-denver-nuggets","12":"tag-jamal-murray","13":"tag-latest-headlines","14":"tag-michael-porter","15":"tag-more-nuggets-news","16":"tag-nba","17":"tag-nba-playoffs","18":"tag-nikola-jokic","19":"tag-nuggets","20":"tag-oklahoma","21":"tag-oklahoma-city","22":"tag-oklahoma-city-thunder","23":"tag-oklahomacity","24":"tag-oklahomacitythunder","25":"tag-peyton-watson","26":"tag-sports","27":"tag-sports-columnists","28":"tag-thunder","29":"tag-troy-renck","30":"tag-western-conference"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/114482630190871978","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22964","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22964"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22964\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22965"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22964"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22964"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22964"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}