Denver Nuggets rookie forward Michael Porter Jr. flashed his raw offensive talent in the first half of Game 4, using his size to shoot at LA’s Reggie Wing Defenders on the way to his 4th and first point against the LA Clippers on Wednesday. On a 5-of-6 shooting.
He finished the game with 15 points in 5-of-8 shooting.
With the Clippers struggling to outscore the Nuggets in the second half with a 1-1 win in the Western Conference semifinals, Porter made it clear why he could not continue his scoring game.
“I just haven’t touched the ball,” he said. “They didn’t do anything different.”
According to Second Spectrum data, Porter had 25 touches in the first half, the stars were third on the team behind Nicola Jokic and Jamal Murray. In the second half, Porter had just 12 touchdowns, ranking seventh on the team.
“Those plaques are all genders, coaches and in whose hands they want to put the ball,” Porte said. “We are leaving [Jokic] And [Murray] And those are two amazing players, but I think we need to involve more players to beat them. We have to move the ball a little better. We can’t predict against that team. “
Porter built on Strong Game 3, when he scored 18 points in 23 minutes, with an emphasis on the Montreal Herrell. In Game 4, he played 34 minutes and was on the floor to close the game in the vista of Lake Buena, Florida.
It’s no secret that the Denver offense is run by Joachim and Murray, one of the league’s best picks and roll combinations. Through Second Spectrum Data, Murray and Jockey have combined for 175.5 touches per game this season, second only to a pair of teammates in the last five seasons. The only pair with more: Jockey and Murray last season.
But with its size and scoring ability, Porter is a potential X factor for Nuggets. And despite being colorful, he feels comfortable saying he wants to be more and more involved.
“I think if I go out on the floor after playing there for several minutes, I think I should make that sound,” he said. “I’ll probably talk to the coach and tell them I’m out on the floor just to let them know, look, they know what we’re doing. We have to swing the ball. We have a lot of players. There are those who can play. Basketball .L and score, so we have some more people to get involved. “
Below 3-1, the Nuggets are in familiar territory, coming back from the same deficit in the opening round against the Utah Jazz. “They can lead that experience and that means winning their next game,” said coach Mike Malone. But he also acknowledged that clippers have a different matchup than jazz.
“The same message was what it was that was against Utah,” Malone said. “It wasn’t like we should come back and win three games. That, let’s win the game. And then, let’s win one at a time. Let’s win and then win. We’ve done that. It’s an opponent. .There is a very talented, deep team, but I think we have the confidence to be an resilient group and a team that when everyone else has stopped writing to us, we have found a way. ‘
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