Monday night's Denver Nuggets vs. Los Angeles Clippers game—the second in the opening-round series between the Western Conference No. 4 and No. 5 seeds—was a frenetic, back-and-forth affair with 18 lead changes and numerous dramatic moments down the stretch. Nuggets forward Michael Porter Jr. found himself on the wrong end of one of the game's biggest plays, one that added insult to injury as he writhed on the court, watching Clippers guard Norman Powell bury what proved to be the game-winning shot.
With just over 1:30 left in the game and the score tied at 100, Porter Jr. hauled in a key rebound off of a Kawhi Leonard miss. As he went to make an outlet pass up the floor, the ball appeared to slip off of his fingers, falling just a few feet in front of him. He and Kris Dunn hit the floor to try and corral it, and Dunn landed on Porter Jr.'s shoulder. As he laid on the court in pain, the Clippers used the player advantage to find Powell open for a go-ahead three. Powell was just 5 of 14 from the field on Monday, but his final shot was pure, putting Los Angeles up on Denver 103–100. The Clippers would hold on to win 105–102.
Porter Jr. took the blame for the loss after the game, calling his turnover the "biggest" of the game.
“A stupid play after I got the rebound, and tried to make up for it. And someone landed on my shoulder,” Porter Jr. said. "I never felt a pain like this in my shoulder, but it's a joint sprain so its nothing too serious. Hopefully I can do what I can do to heal it up."
When asked what the Nuggets could change from Monday night, he again brought up turnovers, singling out his costly one, and said that he apologized to his teammates after the game for the mistake.
“Just turnovers. I had the biggest one of the game at the end. I feel like that's kind of what lost it, and a Norma Powell three," he said. "… I feel like it was on me with that turnover. I thought I had someone streaking down [the floor]. I was trying to advance it up. But I saw that I didn’t [have a teammate streaking up the floor], so then I ended up turning it over. Just feel like that was the biggest turnover of the game. … I just had to tell my guys my fault, that was my mistake.”
Porter Jr. was largely effective, the turnover aside, scoring 15 points on 6 of 11 from the field, knocking down 2 of 4 threes. He added 15 rebounds, including six on the offensive glass.
The game was a step forward statistically for Porter Jr., who has been dealing with a nagging foot and ankle issue stemming from past surgeries. He's struggled to replace a broken foot brace, and has yet to be fully comfortable with the new one he's been playing with.
In Game 1, he was held to just three points in 26 minutes in Denver's overtime win. He was a much bigger factor in Game 2, but now he has three days to ruminate on a game-changing turnover before the series continues.
The series heads to Los Angeles for Game 3, which tips off at 10 p.m. ET on NBATV.