This time it’ll be Michael Porter Jr.’s timely shot, block and rebound that’ll come up on sports talk shows, and not any ill-timed postgame comments.
The 22-year-old from Missouri shared his frustration after the Clippers won Game 4, 96-85, saying: “We kept going to (Nikola Jokic) and (Jamal Murray) and I think they are two amazing players, you can never get mad at that, but I just think to beat that team we got to get more players involved.”
Porter finished with 15 points in Game 4, but got no shots in the fourth quarter.
The talented rookie forward was sidelined last season by a back injury that caused his draft stock to fall to 14th overall, landing him in Denver with the Nuggets, for whom he’s been a contributor this postseason, averaging 11.7 points and 6.9 rebounds.
On Friday, Porter scored all seven of his points in the decisive fourth quarter as the Nuggets staved off elimination with a 111-105 comeback victory over the Clippers. Denver scored 38 points in the fourth quarter to deny L.A. its first conference finals berth in franchise history.
Before Porter sank four late free throws Friday, he buried a 3-pointer with 1:11 to go that gave Denver a 105-100 lead. He then blocked Ivica Zubac and ripped down a rebound with just more than 30 seconds on the clock to preserve the five-point advantage.
“Jok found me on the wing, everybody knows it wasn’t the best shot selection, but something made me shoot it, so I shot it — a God thing,” Porter said. “It was a clutch shot. I’m just glad I could help my team in those last couple minutes come away with that dub.”
The Clippers might not love if those clutch moments further embolden Porter, as Denver coach Michael Malone said they will.
“Those minutes are invaluable,” Malone said. “You can talk about it, but until you’re out there playing those pivotal minutes down the stretch of a really close game, those minutes are invaluable. That can only speed up a young player like Michael’s development and progress. Now he has the confidence: ‘I’ve been in big games, I’ve closed out big games, I’ve made big plays for us to win those games.’”
LOU WILLIAMS COOL
In the first-round series against Dallas, it was Paul George’s shot that was faltering, a slump that was exacerbated, the six-time All-Star said, by the intense, enclosed bubble atmosphere, which makes it hard to distance oneself from a poor game.
George found his stroke and the Clippers advanced despite a few off games from the forward, who shot an uncharacteristic combined 21.3% from the field in Games 2, 3 and 4 of the opening round before exploding with 35 points in 25 minutes in Game 5.
This series, it’s Lou Williams whose shot is betraying him. The Clippers’ fourth-leading scorer in the regular season (18.2 points per game) is averaging 11.3 points on 38.3% shooting through five games against Denver.
His teammates have praised him during the series for his defensive effort, and on Friday Kawhi Leonard said he has faith that the veteran scorer will find his rhythm offensively.
“I mean, it’s playoff basketball,” Leonard said of Williams, who Friday was 2 for 10, and 0 for 5 from 3-point range en route to four points. “You know he’s going to knock down shots. Not too worried about that. Everybody can score the ball on our team.
“Just got to say: Next possession. As long as he’s putting the effort out there and doing our team concept, all you’ve got to do is just go to the next play, that’s it. Next game.”
Denver’s Michal Porter Jr. makes another statement against Clippers posted first on https://anaheimsignsorangecounty.blogspot.com
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