Take stock of one moment in particular from the Nuggets’ 114-99 win over the Trail Blazers.
With three minutes gone in the second quarter, Carmelo Anthony was isolated on the right wing against Nuggets rookie Michael Porter Jr. Melo crossed the ball from right to left then went between his legs and blew past Porter on his way to an uncontested layup.
Hey, rook. You reach I teach.
Denver’s next time down the floor was Porter’s turn. The 21-year-old waited in the corner while Monte Morris drove the lane and was in position when Morris fired a bounce pass that led Porter to the corner and into his second 3 of the game.
It was a sequence more fit for Hollywood than a Thursday night in Denver. The Nuggets’ past and potentially future at the small forward position trading buckets.
“When I first checked in he was like, ‘Wastup, young fella?'” Porter said when asked about playing against Anthony after Denver’s win. “That was cool for me.”
“‘Melo was one of my favorite players.”
As the Nuggets ease past the quarter-mark of the NBA regular season with a 15-8 record, Denver is ready to find out if Porter can be the constant at the small forward position that Anthony was for so many years. The rookie started the season out of the rotation and then saw meaningful minutes for a stretch in early November but didn’t play in four of the Nuggets’ last six games before Sunday’s loss in Philadelphia where Porter logged nearly 14 minutes in Denver’s five-point defeat.
Michael Malone said following the Nuggets’ latest win where Porter played 10 minutes and tallied six points which came on two baskets from beyond the arc that he’s committed to playing the 6-foot-10 wing regular rotation minutes for the time being.
“It can do a lot for his confidence but it can also let him take a deep breath,” Malone said about Porter’s two second-quarter triples. “And I think the more he plays — and I’m going to continue to play him — the more he gets those first quarter second quarter minutes where it’s not just the end of the game, gets some minutes with our starting group, the game’s going to slow down for him. And when the game does slow down for him I think he’s got scary potential. We all know he’s gifted.”
Porter’s up-and-down performance Thursday was a microcosm of how his rookie season has gone. There were highs, like Porter’s two made 3s. But also lows, like his defensive miscues and three turnovers.
But that’s to be expected. Few rookies are positive players right out of the gate, let alone a first-year player that hadn’t played a game in nearly a full calendar year prior to his preseason debut in October. Denver seems willing to let him play through those mistakes now, and when it comes to his shot selection Malone wants Porter to take an old adage from one-time Nuggets sharpshooter Mike Miller.
‘Let it fly.’
If Porter has an opening from 3, Malone wants him to shoot. On his first look from distance, which also came from the corner earlier in the second quarter, Malone pumped his fist after Porter’s shot fell through the nylon. A few minutes later Porter grabbed a rebound and brought the ball up the floor and recognized once he crossed into the front-court that his defender Skal Labissiere had sunk all the way into the paint. Porter calmly toed the line at the top of the three-point arc and stepped into a transition 3 with 19 seconds left on the shot clock.
“They were so far off me that it was pretty wide open,” Porter said. “I’m trying to shoot those when I get an opportunity.”
“I said, ‘Great shot, Mike. Keep shooting it,'” Malone said postgame when asked about Porter’s pull-up 3. “Those are really good shots. When he rebounds at a high level, he pushed it, nobody stopped the ball. We want to take those shots.”
Porter turned the ball over at the 9:04 mark of the fourth and he was subbed out for Torrey Craig one possession later. As Porter trudged back to the bench, his head down after committing another rookie mistake, Malone counseled the young forward and told him he wasn’t taking him out of the game because of a turnover. Denver’s coach wanted to match Craig on Damian Lillard who had just entered the game.
“He’s helped me just be confident out there,” Porter said of Malone. “…He just keeps telling me to shoot the ball so it’s great hearing that from a coach.”
The Nuggets’ schedule shapes up nicely for Porter to have a long trial run as a constant member of the second unit over the next few weeks. Seven of the Nuggets’ next nine games are at home and eight of Denver’s next nine opponents currently sport below .500 records, beginning with Saturday’s matchup at Pepsi Center against the 11-13 Thunder (7 p.m., ALT). The Nuggets will be favored in every game over the next two weeks except for their Dec. 22 date in Los Angeles against the Lakers. It’s the perfect stretch of the season for Denver to absorb the ups and downs that will come with Porter’s play.
Malone’s commitment to Porter seems significant, especially with Denver finding a prolonged rhythm on offense against Portland for what felt like the first time in weeks partly thanks to the Nuggets’ 18 of 36 shooting from 3. Strong shooting helped Denver crossed the 100-point threshold with 6:47 left in the fourth quarter, a remarkable achievement for the league’s 18th-ranked offense on the season.
As the Nuggets’ move past the quarter-pole of the NBA regular season, they’re ready to see what Porter can do.
“Michael’s coming along,” Malone said. “Hes going to be a heck of a player for us.”
