{"id":628077,"date":"2026-02-27T11:10:54","date_gmt":"2026-02-27T11:10:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/628077\/"},"modified":"2026-02-27T11:10:54","modified_gmt":"2026-02-27T11:10:54","slug":"michael-porter-jr-finally-showing-signs-of-vintage-self-after-ugly-nets-funk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/628077\/","title":{"rendered":"Michael Porter Jr. finally showing signs of vintage self after ugly Nets funk"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"An<\/p>\n

An image collage containing 2 images, Image 1 shows Michael Porter Jr. (C) tries to dunk but is blocked by San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama (R) and teammate San Antonio Spurs guard Stephon Castle (L) in the first half at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, USA, Thursday, February 26, 2026. , Image 2 shows Brooklyn Nets Michael Porter Jr. shooting over San Antonio Spurs Harrison Barnes. <\/p>\n

Michael Porter Jr. has spent this month fighting his way through a funk partly of his own making.<\/p>\n

The worst shooting slump he can remember has been about rhythm and rust. And maybe a little bit about mentality as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the feel, the timing. My shot hasn\u2019t felt this off since I can remember. For the last four or five games, I\u2019ve been off. But that\u2019s what happens when you\u2019re out of rhythm and you don\u2019t play for a while,\u201d Porter said before Thursday\u2019s 126-110 loss to the Spurs.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cYou can really lose your timing and your touch in two or three days of not playing. So not playing (in the last two games) pre-All-Star break, then not getting in the gym much during it, I\u2019m paying the price for it.\u201d<\/p>\n

And so had Brooklyn.<\/p>\n

\"Nets<\/p>\n

Nets forward Michael Porter Jr. (C) tries to put up a shot past a defending San Antonio Spurs forward Harrison Barnes (L) in the first half at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, USA, Thursday, February 26, 2026. JASON SZENES FOR THE NEW YORK POST<\/p>\n

After missing games in Utah and Detroit while mourning the death of his grandmother, Porter hadn\u2019t been the same since returning. He sat the last two games before the All-Star break and admitted he didn\u2019t get into the gym as much as he should\u2019ve.<\/p>\n

He\u2019d been as cold as this week\u2019s blizzard since, averaging 19.0 points and shooting just 10-of-55 from deep in his prior seven games.<\/p>\n

He showed signs of his old form Thursday vs. San Antonio.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve got to get back in rhythm,\u201d said Porter. \u201cBefore the All-Star break I didn\u2019t play a couple games. And then I honestly didn\u2019t do much over the break. So I\u2019ve got to get back in rhythm and play better.\u201d<\/p>\n

Porter started to shake off his malaise against San Antonio with 25 points and 14 rebounds, both team highs.<\/p>\n

It may be less about adjusting to defenses and more about adjusting to circumstances.<\/p>\n

The mental issue may not be about mourning, but motivation. Porter had done nothing but win in Denver, where every night was high pressure.<\/p>\n

This rebuilding thing is an adjustment.<\/p>\n

\"Michael<\/p>\n

Michael Porter Jr. (C) tries to dunk but is blocked by San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama (R) and teammate San Antonio Spurs guard Stephon Castle (L). JASON SZENES FOR THE NEW YORK POST<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a new situation that I\u2019ve been in,\u201d said Porter. \u201cBut no game is meaningless. It\u2019s all part of the journey. We\u2019re not just looking at this year. We\u2019re looking at the next one, two, three, four, five years. All these games matter for growth, continuity and chemistry. Sometimes it\u2019s hard to focus on that. But we\u2019ve got to come in and work every day and realize it\u2019s a bigger picture.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s definitely a change. It\u2019s a learning curve and a learning experience for me. In the past, you\u2019re ramping up for the playoffs, trying to get guys healthy and get chemistry right. This situation is different. But it\u2019s a cool opportunity to grow and learn.\u201d<\/p>\n

And to show he\u2019s a huge piece of that bigger picture, which should start to come into focus over the summer.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a process and a plan in place. You cannot control everything but it\u2019s very exciting and everybody should feel the excitement of the next step,\u201d said head coach Jordi Fern\u00e1ndez. \u201cThese last 25 games are very important. Then it\u2019s a big summer for everybody. I want to win every game, but playing these 25 to compete, and [then] how we structure the summer is the best thing, the biggest summer of our lives.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo whatever it takes \u2014 understanding where your feet are and what you\u2019re asked to do, putting the team first \u2014 not yourself, but the team, and going out there to compete and get better. That\u2019s what we\u2019re demanding. We\u2019re demanding that from the vets, to lead by example, to go out and fight and compete. That\u2019s a must. So there are no excuses here; there\u2019s no feeling bad for yourself, no wasting 25 games. These 25 games are very important for everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

Porter was aggressive Thursday, perhaps too much. He had six turnovers, getting caught in the lane vs. Victor Wembanyama.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, 22 shots is good. He disrupts so much. Maybe what I\u2019d like to see is less than six turnovers,\u201d said Fern\u00e1ndez. \u201cRight there is maybe some of those is he just sees two bodies in front, he kicks it, he cuts, maybe he gets a layup [or] somebody gets a layup\u2026 [But] he was aggressive. He played well.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An image collage containing 2 images, Image 1 shows Michael Porter Jr. (C) tries to dunk but is…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":628078,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3767],"tags":[7,670,247,3803,301,296,2992,562,6,671,969,534,930,693],"class_list":{"0":"post-628077","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-brooklyn-nets","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-brooklyn","10":"tag-brooklyn-nets","11":"tag-brooklynnets","12":"tag-denver","13":"tag-detroit","14":"tag-harrison-barnes","15":"tag-michael-porter-jr","16":"tag-nba","17":"tag-nets","18":"tag-san-antonio","19":"tag-spurs","20":"tag-stephon-castle","21":"tag-victor-wembanyama"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116142295449636635","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/628077","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=628077"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/628077\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/628078"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=628077"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=628077"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=628077"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}