The spotlight is on Michael Porter Jr.

1. The Portland Trail Blazers are starting to target Michael Porter Jr. more and more. The key to attacking Porter in PnR is to disguise the action and make the read as complicated as possible. One of the Blazers’ go-to plays for this is a “stack” PnR.

2. The other action that the Blazers are going to is a screen-the-screener action that is similar to what Denver was running for Jamal Murray and Aaron Gordon before Murray’s injury. A Lillard backscreen for Robert Covington requires that both Facu Campazzo and Porter sniff out the action early so that Porter can avoid the screen. If the screen surprises either of the two defenders, Facu is forced to switch onto the much taller Covington and Porter is forced to chase Lillard around a handoff. Both of those options are horrible for the Nuggets’ defense.

3. The Blazers use drag screens in transition to get Lillard attacking downhill. The Nuggets being locked in defensively on the break is essential in order to prevent these types of easy baskets.

4. This is a bit of a random play but indicative of the type of slow reaction speed Porter has on any type of remotely complex rotations on defense. He does a nice job of giving initial help but gets lost on recovery which leads to an open three-pointer for Lillard.

5. The Blazers are looking for Norman Powell on side PnRs like the one below. Putting the ball in Powell’s hands has been one of the major adjustments of the last two games and is a direct response to the emphasis the Nuggets have placed on trapping the Lillard-Nurkic PnR.

6. Nurkic has been the biggest x-factor in this series. When he is on the court, the Blazers have been dominating the offensive glass. Keeping him off of the boards requires a team effort, especially since he is often attacking the glass against switches and scrambled defense.

7. Early help is required for keeping Nurkic out of the restricted area and avoiding unlucky whistles like the one below.

8. Jokic’s fatigue level was a factor in game 4 and in the 2nd half of game 3. In addition to coming up short on most of his shots, he also just gave poor effort defensively on plays like the ones below.

9. Offensively, the Nuggets are scoring at an incredible rate whenever they can get Nurkic switched off of Jokic. Unfortunately, without a ballhandler that is a threat to score in the PnR, getting the switch has been difficult. One way the Nuggets can force these types of switches is by getting Porter to ballscreen for Jokic. The Nuggets will likely go to this action more and more but they need Porter to read the defense a bit quicker and drag Nurkic away from the action as soon as Jokic turns the corner. In the clip below, Porter pops behind Jokic and allows Nurkic to switch back.

10. The little details are also missing on PnRs like this one where Porter goes a bit too early and completely negates the screen. The Nuggets are lucky Jokic didn’t pick up a moving screen violation.

11. Another example of the Nuggets going to what needs to be one of their most deadly actions but instead resulting in an unforced (or lightly forced) turnover.

12. The times that the Nuggets successfully execute the Jokic-Porter PnR, they get A+ looks. This action is essential. The Nuggets need to find a way to make it work.

13. Also essential is Aaron Gordon finishing plays like the one below where Nurkic gets switched off of Jokic and attacks downhill. Gordon is one of the most athletic players in the NBA but doesn’t always maximize that athleticism.

14. Here is another example of an empty possession despite getting mismatches all over the court. These kinds of plays are especially damning since every stop a team gets in this series tilts the odds in their favor. Punishing the Blazers on possessions like these should be somewhat easy.