The Nuggets fought hard to close out their first-round series on the road in Game 6, but they didn’t quite have enough to top the Clippers in LA, falling 111-105 on Thursday night. As is the case in most of Denver’s losses, the team just didn’t have enough firepower. The stars played well, but beyond Russell Westbrook, they got nothing from the bench, making the margin for error incredibly slim.
Given the team’s current roster, they need all hands on deck and a strong performance from all of their top six players each and every night. But for the second time in this series, they got a complete dud from Michael Porter Jr., who played just 24 minutes, scoring 5 points with 3 rebounds with a team-worst -24 +/-.
It’s hard to be too critical of Mike as he’s playing through a major shoulder injury and toughing it out as admirably as anyone could ask for. Despite struggling to lift his left arm and saying he’s playing at 20-30%, MPJ was able to give the Nuggets back-to-back strong performances in Games 4 and 5, scoring 14 and 17 points on a combined 11/21 from the floor and 7/12 from three while playing 42 and 37 minutes.
MPJ’s disappearing acts are killing Denver
But on Thursday night, Porter Jr. was not able to make a positive impact. His injury was showing, and he became disengaged. He wasn’t involved on offense, and he was hurting the team on defense. They were getting crushed with him out there, and eventually, David Adelman had no choice but to take him off the floor.
Like I said, it’s easy to blame the injury, except for the fact that we’ve seen this before, as recently as Game 1. Before the injury, Porter Jr. started the series with a game that closely resembled this one, scoring just 3 points and getting benched after just 26 minutes in a game that Westbrook closed out.
Nuggets can’t trust Porter Jr. in Game 7
Unfortunately, now the team’s season comes down to one do-or-die game less than 48 hours from the end of Game 6. MPJ is clearly hurting and coming off a very poor performance. But the team desperately needs him and the shooting he can bring to the floor.
Adelman has shown he’s not willing to trust anyone but his starters and Westbrook. If you remove one of those starters, or they’re hurting the team, the rotations are shot, Adelman will have to ride five guys into the ground, and the Nuggets are in big trouble.
They need to show up on Saturday and play their best, and one of their starters is now a complete wild card. Hopefully, his shoulder feels better, but even if it does, that’s no guarantee that Mike will suddenly play well. Sadly, Adelman is going to have to make some very difficult decisions, and he’s going to have to have a short leash. If Porter Jr. looks like this again on Saturday, the Nuggets are going to have to pull the plug quickly and live or die on the Westbrook roller coaster. Buckle up.