{"id":135978,"date":"2025-04-24T06:06:25","date_gmt":"2025-04-24T10:06:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=135978"},"modified":"2025-04-24T06:06:25","modified_gmt":"2025-04-24T10:06:25","slug":"michael-porter-jr-injury-questionable","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/04\/24\/michael-porter-jr-injury-questionable\/","title":{"rendered":"Nuggets Starter Listed As Questionable For Game 3"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Denver Nuggets are encountering a pivotal Game 3 on Thursday night. After the first two games of their series took place in Denver, they will head to the Intuit Dome in LA for Games 3 and 4. The first round series with the Nuggets and Los Angeles Clippers is knotted at 1-1. Denver hasn\u2019t gone deep with their bench in the first two outings, but their depth may be further tested once Game 3 tips off. Starting small forward Michael Porter Jr.<\/a> is listed as questionable for Game 3 after he suffered a left shoulder injury.<\/p>\n

Nuggets Starter Listed As Questionable For Game 3<\/h2>\n

Michael Porter Jr, Sustained Shoulder Injury Late In Game 2<\/h3>\n

It was a double whammy for Porter Jr. late in the Nuggets Game 2 loss. With the game tied at 100 apiece, the 26-year-old grabbed a rebound but lost control of the ball. He dove to try to get it, but was unable to. It led to a Norman Powell<\/a> three-pointer by the Clippers. LA never looked back in their 105-102 victory.<\/p>\n

Not only was it a costly turnover, it was a costly play in general. By diving on the court, Porter Jr. sustained a left shoulder injury. He was taken out for the brief time remaining in Game 2. The 6-foot-10 forward is listed as questionable for Thursday\u2019s contest.<\/p>\n

Selected 14th overall in the 2018 NBA Draft<\/a>, Porter Jr. had more of an impact in Game 2 after a quiet Game 1. In the Nuggets defeat, he finished with 15 points (6-11 from field, 2-4 on three-pointers) and 15 rebounds. In the series opener, Porter Jr. could only muster three points on 1-4 shooting.<\/p>\n

After having the injury-prone label placed on him, Porter Jr. has mostly stayed in the lineup of late. He appeared in 81 games in 2023-24 and 77 this season. In 2024-25, Porter Jr. posted averages of 18.2 points, 7.0 rebounds, and 2.1 assists. He shot 50.4% from the field, 39.5% from beyond the arc, and 76.8% from the foul line.<\/p>\n

Russell Westbrook Likeky To Enter Starting Lineup If Porter Jr. Unable To Play<\/h3>\n

Through the first two games of the series, Nuggets head coach David Adelman<\/a> has only given two reserves extended run. Russell Westbrook<\/a> is averaging 29 minutes while Peyton Watson<\/a> is averaging 14. While second-year player Jalen Pickett<\/a> has appeared in both games, it has been just for a combined 12 minutes. After not playing in game 1, backup center DeAndre Jordan<\/a> received five minutes of action in Game 2.<\/p>\n

It seems likely that Adelman would insert Westbrook with the starters if Porter Jr. is unable to go. That would shift starting shooting guard Christian Bruan<\/a> to small forward. The 36-year-old Westbrook nearly started half of his appearances this season (36 of 75).<\/p>\n

Perhaps Julian Strawther<\/a> would enter Denver\u2019s rotation if Porter Jr. is unable to go. The 29th overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft, the recently-turned 23-year-old averaged nine points per contest this season for the Nuggets.<\/p>\n

The Nuggets\/Clippers Game 3 is scheduled for 10 PM ET on Thursday, April 24. The Nuggets and their fans hope Porter Jr. will be able to give it a go, or their depth will be tested further.<\/p>\n

Photo credit: \u00a9 Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Denver Nuggets are encountering a pivotal Game 3 on Thursday night. After the first two games of their series took place in Denver, they will head to the Intuit Dome in LA for Games 3 and 4. The first round series with the Nuggets and Los Angeles Clippers is knotted at 1-1. Denver hasn\u2019t […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5060,"featured_media":135994,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1608,20,62,3],"tags":[1223,4745,53],"class_list":["post-135978","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-nuggets","category-nba","category-news","tag-michael-porter-jr","tag-nba-injuries","tag-russell-westbrook"],"modified_by":"Kenny Kluska","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135978","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5060"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=135978"}],"version-history":[{"count":24,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135978\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":136005,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135978\/revisions\/136005"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/135994"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=135978"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=135978"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=135978"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}