Inside Michael Porter Jr.'s bounce-back performance in Game 5

Portland’s bench was breathing down his neck. Zach Collins was yelling only God knows what. All Damian Lillard, CJ McCollum, Carmelo Anthony and the rest of the Trail Blazers could do was stand and watch.

You knew the ball was going to find Michael Porter Jr. at a pivotal moment in Game 5. It’s just how these types of playoff storylines unfold. Porter was coming off an awful Game 4 where he scored just three points and only attempted three shots. He looked spooked by Norman Powell’s defense and physicality, and his points and field goal attempts continued to dwindle as the series wore on.

But Game 5 was different. Porter pledged it would be, and he had been delivering. He was attacking Powell. He was finding open threes within Denver’s offense. He was getting on the glass too.

Then, with 1:35 remaining in double-OT, the Blazers doubled Nikola Jokic, Aaron Gordon eventually cut, and the ball predictably found Porter.

“To be honest I was like, ‘Come on, someone (cut),'” said Jokic, who somehow managed to signal for Gordon to cut with one hand while holding the ball against a Portland double-team with the other. “Because I saw Powell coming to double team. He was coming towards me and I was like just, ‘Someone.’ Then AG looked at me and he started cutting and I threw a little lob pass.”

A little lob pass? Come on, Jok.

This was a thing of beauty. It was effortless, and it was also perfection. It was an assist that should be sent straight to Springfield. To throw that pass that perfectly in that situation? Unreal. Ridiculous. Absurd. Laughable. Stupid. And what about the timing?. To see at that moment how the floor could open up for Porter on the weakside if Gordon cut was some real galaxy brain shit. But for Jokic, it was elementary. It was a pinpoint dime from not only the best passing big man of all time but the best passer period in the NBA right now.

And of course, Porter was on the receiving end of Jokic’s ninth and final assist of the night. And of course, he made the biggest shot of Game 5.

That’s just how these stories get written.

“It’s everything that we as players work for, to be in these moments,” Porter said. “I’ve just got to be grateful for these moments. Take a step back and really realize how big these moments are for me and the team.”

This is what the playoffs are all about. They’re where, as a player, you build your own narrative and write your own story. It’s sometimes difficult to remember that this is just Porter’s second NBA season. He’s already so good and so talented with a ceiling that’s so incredibly high. With the number of bodies that the Nuggets are down, he’s playing under expectations that could intimidate even the most confident up-and-coming stars.

Porter’s story took another sharp turn Tuesday after he vowed that he’d bounce back in Game 5. He said he’d get on the glass more. Porter then grabbed 12 rebounds. He said he wouldn’t let a player or game plan take him out of his game. Porter finished Game 5 with 26 points, shot 10-13 from the floor and 3-5 from three-point range, tallied three assists, two steals, and was a team-high +11 in 48 minutes.

He took advantage of mismatches. He battled. He played his game.

Michael Malone also did his part. Porter needed to help himself after Game 4. He had to play more physical, force the issue and get to his spots, and find other ways to impact the game when he wasn’t scoring. Denver also put Porter in advantageous positions and got him off of Powell and onto Lillard and McCollum in the post throughout Game 5. Malone’s pregame message to Porter was that he’d help his forward out. But Porter also had to pull his own weight.

“He owned it,” Malone said. “He embraced it.

“Michael Porter answered the bell.”

The level of difficulty on some of Porter’s two-point makes throughout Game 5 was ridiculous.

The Nuggets needed Porter’s 26 points badly. They don’t eke out a Game 5 win without them. Denver also doesn’t take a 3-2 series lead Tuesday night without the best game of Monte Morris’ Nuggets tenure, a career-high 28 points to go with five assists and zero turnovers in 41 minutes. The Nuggets needed every one of Austin Rivers’ four threes. They needed every one of Aaron Gordon’s 10 rebounds too. They needed Jokic to post a stat line that’s never been seen in NBA playoff history: 38 points, 11 rebounds, 9 assists and 4 blocks.

Because Lillard turned in the most mind-blowing shooting performance that I’ve ever witnessed live. Lillard poured in 55 points. He set a playoff record with 12 three-pointers. Lillard swished a step-back three with 3.7 seconds remaining in the fourth to send the game to overtime. He then hit three triples in the final 60 seconds of OT. The final one came with 6.6 seconds on the clock and Portland trailing 135-132.

His magic ran out in double-OT. Somehow, the Nuggets survived.

Game 6 is Thursday night in Portland.

“Every time they threw a haymaker and put us down on the canvas,” Malone said. “We got up.”

Powell tried to knock Porter out with his own set of haymakers, right hooks and left uppercuts throughout the first five games of this series. It’s been obvious that Powell has tried to get under Porter’s skin and frustrate him. At times throughout Games 1-4, it looked like Powell was trying to bait Porter into an altercation.

Like Denver, Porter got right back up to beat the 10-count after a disastrous Game 4. He wasn’t going to let that game or this matchup define what has been a breakout sophomore campaign. He puts in too much work behind the scenes to let his 2021 playoffs be remembered by that game. He’s swished too many jumpers in an empty Nuggets’ practice gym for that to happen.

“His work ethic is amazing,” Monte Morris said. “He watches a lot of film and he took it upon himself.”

“He didn’t let Powell dictate the game tonight.”

What’s exciting about Porter’s bounce-back is that another chapter to his story is set to unfold throughout the rest of this series. That’s the playoffs for you. Porter’s confidence is back. Everything’s setting up for him to have a defining Game 6 or 7.

Denver might need him to in order to advance, but you don’t have to tell Porter that.

“I just told him how proud I was of him,” Malone said. “He goes, ‘Coach, I’ve got to do that every night.'”