Michael Malone trusted Michael Porter Jr.'s defense and it paid off

Michael Porter Jr. was sitting on just two points and shooting only 1-7 from the floor when he checked back into the Nuggets’ Christmas Day win over the Suns with 9:20 left in the fourth quarter. Denver was trailing 93-86 and in desperate need of offense, but it’s not like you had much confidence that Porter would deliver on that end of the floor at that point in the game.

Porter was pretty much invisible throughout the first three quarters of what turned out to be a 128-125 Nuggets overtime win. It looked like Porter had lost all confidence. He was having a difficult time getting to his spots on offense. He wasn’t finding his typical shots within the Nuggets’ attack. It felt like a repeat of one of Porter’s dud shooting nights from Phoenix’s 4-0 sweep against Denver in the 2021 playoffs. Porter shot only 21-55 (38%) from the floor in that series.

But even though Porter hadn’t produced up until that point in the fourth quarter, Michael Malone went back to his starting small forward with the game hanging in the balance. And he got rewarded. Porter finished out the game and played most of the last 14 minutes of regulation and overtime. Denver outscored Phoenix 42-32 after Porter checked in and forced the Suns into seven turnovers over that span.

Porter only scored five points throughout the rest of the game, but he pulled down three important rebounds and registered one steal and one block. The Nuggets and Porter didn’t play perfect defense late vs. Phoenix, but it was good enough. Porter had several standout defensive plays throughout the fourth quarter and overtime too.

This felt like a real moment in Porter’s arc this season. Malone, someone who before hasn’t trusted Porter’s defense late in games, left him on the floor and the Nuggets got the win. It gave off the vibe of something maybe close to a tipping point in Porter’s progression. This happening in a game where Porter didn’t have it going offensively either also felt significant.

“I think Michael would be the first one to admit that his first half wasn’t where he’d like to be or where we expect him to be. But what I loved about it was he didn’t pout, he didn’t feel sorry for himself. He came out and I thought he had some great defensive possessions. I mean that,” Malone said. “We kept him in there for some really important defensive possessions. Switching onto Chris Paul. Using his length. Pursuing from behind and getting a block. Getting on the floor for loose balls. He had eight rebounds tonight.”

“Just being as big as he is, 6-10 with a 7-plus wingspan. He can impact the game just from that alone as long as you’re giving effort, and he did that. That’s all I can ever ask of him. I was proud of Michael. The jump shot wasn’t going, 3-11, 0-5 from 3. Who cares? Help us get a stop. Help us get a rebound. Help us win the game. And he did that tonight.”

One of the most important storylines to the Nuggets’ season is this: Can Porter get to a point defensively where he’s always going to be on the floor to close playoff games?

After watching the Nuggets close out the Suns, you can say that Denver wants to put him in position to do that. Recently, the Nuggets may have had a breakthrough in their defensive thinking and philosophy — something I wrote about here — and that may have also contributed to Porter playing late in the fourth quarter against the Suns. Denver’s front office has been preaching the importance of overall length to its defensive identity, and over the last couple of games (starting Christian Braun at small forward vs. Memphis, leaving Porter in the game vs. Phoenix), it’s felt like that idea is central to the Nuggets’ defensive process right now.

What was so interesting about how the win over the Suns played out was that you wouldn’t have faulted Malone for rolling with Bruce Brown or another plus-defensive option for the fourth quarter vs. Paul, Mikal Bridges, a hot-shooting Landry Shamet and Damion Lee and Deandre Ayton either. Based on how Porter had looked up until that point in the game, it wouldn’t have been a point of contention if he stayed on the bench in crunch time.

Everyone watching knew what Phoenix was going to do with Porter on the floor at that point in the game too. Paul got Porter switched onto him 1-on-1 whenever he wanted in the half-court. The Suns made Porter chase their shooters around screens. However, his defense mostly held up. The Nuggets’ overall team defense is still awful this season and Denver ranks 25th in Defensive Rating. But the Nuggets’ clutch defense (when the score is within five points with five minutes or less remaining) is back up to No. 1 in the NBA, a spot Denver has occupied for most of the year.

Porter wants to be a solid defender. He wants to be relied on to get stops. He doesn’t want to be a target and mark that opposing offenses single out and try to exploit. For parts of this season, I really do feel like he’s played with the purpose that’s required on that end of the floor to rewrite some of the defensive narratives that are out there about him. You could tell based on what Porter said at practice this week that he’s ticked off in regard to how people talk about his defense.

“I guess just playing harder,” Porter said when asked how his defense has evolved over his career. “One day my defense is bad according to everybody, the next day they’re saying it’s good.”

It was good enough vs. Phoenix. Porter’s defense helped the Nuggets get a marquee win and Christmas Day victory over the Suns. Doing it on that stage against an opponent and matchup that has given him trouble in the past is something Porter and the Nuggets can build off of.