NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: LAKERS VS. NUGGETS

September 17, 2020

Michael Porter Jr.

Denver Nuggets

Practice Day

Q. What is your perspective of when Gary Harris came back for Game 6 of the Utah series, what did his defense do to lift you guys on that end? What was the feeling about what he was providing on the court, how it lifted everybody else?

MICHAEL PORTER JR.: We all missed G out there. We missed him a lot. We knew what he could bring.

When he came back, it was no surprise the boost he gave us on both ends of the floor. We're just lucky he's feeling good and with us right now.

Q. I was thinking about the two Game 7s, the back-to-back 3-1 comebacks, how much are you able to appreciate this run given you're a rookie and you don't have the context of prior postseason play?

MICHAEL PORTER JR.: I mean, it's obviously something special. Like, you know, it doesn't matter if you're a first-year player or you've been in the league 10 years, it's a special feeling. It's great to be a part of it.

I was actually talking to someone - who was I talking to - I forget. They made the point that some of the best players ever haven't made it to where we are right now. Tracy McGrady, I don't think he ever made the Conference Finals. I didn't even know that. It's mind blowing. It just shows that we're doing something special, can't take it for granted.

Q. After, like, 70 plus days inside this bubble, what have you learned about Nikola that you wouldn't have known otherwise in a regular season normally? Anything he likes to do that's strange or funny or anything like that?

MICHAEL PORTER JR.: I mean, no. Obviously we're all closer than we were before just because we're stuck in this bubble. Everybody knew how Nikola was before the bubble. We do get to spend more time together, which is cool. But he's the same Nikola. I wouldn't say anything new.

Q. How tough is it for you guys coming off two Game 7 big series wins to now transition to taking care of business again, another opportunity, a new challenge at hand?

MICHAEL PORTER JR.: I say we took yesterday to kind of soak it in, really enjoy the moment. Today it's back to work. We just got done with practice, just got done with film. Now we're moving on. Guys in the gym. We still got work to do. All we're thinking about now is the Lakers.

Q. Is there anything you've learned in your first Playoff games that you really weren't expecting or you didn't understand before having your Playoff experience?

MICHAEL PORTER JR.: Nah, man. The main thing with Playoffs is it's higher intensity basketball. It's still basketball at the end of the day. A lot more intense. You got to value every possession. Less room for error.

But everything I already knew.

Q. What has it been like transitioning in terms of the defensive philosophy for each series? You had a pick-and-roll heavy Jazz team, an isolation heavy Clippers team, now you're going to transition-based, well-rounded Lakers team. How difficult has it been to shift gears that dramatically?

MICHAEL PORTER JR.: Yeah, I mean, that's just knowing your opponent. It's going to change from game to game. You play the same team multiple times. From every game you just make adjustments.

The schemes are way different every series, so we got to lock in at practice, when we're going over how we're going to guard these guys. Like you said, every team is different. The way we guarded the Jazz was completely different than the way we had to guard the Clippers.

It's just locking into the game plan. Coaches watch hours and hours of film. Just listen to them and try to apply it on the court.

Q. I remember in mid-August it was Jamal who was talking about how quiet the defense had been. It was a quiet style of the locker room. How have you seen Jamal use his voice in the last month having this red hot Playoffs?

MICHAEL PORTER JR.: Yeah, Jamal stepped up in every way possible: vocally, on the floor, picking guys up. I'm really, really proud of him. He's definitely come a long way. He's just going to keep improving. He's only 23 years old.

Q. Defensively obviously this team got better over the course of the Clippers series. Why did things get so much better so fast in that series on the defensive end?

MICHAEL PORTER JR.: I think in this series, like, once you kind of figure out how you want to guard a team, then you kind of know what you want to do going in. That happened with Utah. They smacked us a couple times in a row. We switched up, figured out what was working for us better, then we stuck with that. It turned out good.

With the Clippers, they beat us pretty bad that first game, then we kind of found something that worked. We tried to stick with it. Even the Lakers versus the Rockets, they got beat that first game, figured out how they wanted to guard the Rockets. They won the next four.

That's the beauty of playing a team multiple times in a row. You get to adjust and figure out what works best each game.

Q. That one-footed fadeaway three-pointer that Nikola takes from time to time, seems like he's taking it more in these Playoffs. What do you think of that shot?

MICHAEL PORTER JR.: Man, there's some shots that are bad shots for some players but great shots for other players. That's one of those shots that Nikola has perfected and mastered. He spent the time on it. It's a good shot for him.

But it's an amazing thing to see every time it goes in.

Q. Do you see or can you feel a palpable difference as opposed to last series where you had no break? Do you feel like you're having more energy?

MICHAEL PORTER JR.: Out here, people keep talking about you want to get a day in between each game so we're probably tired. There's nothing else to do so we get the whole day to recover. Unless you have an injury, then the extra days really matter.

It's just basketball. We grew up playing four AAU games in a day. One game, then day off, that's enough for us.

Q. The team had a little bit of tired legs in Game 1. Could it help with that?

MICHAEL PORTER JR.: Yeah, people attributed that loss to us being tired. We just came out flat. The Clippers jumped on us. We hadn't figured them out. They were a completely different opponent.

I wouldn't attribute it to being tired.

Q. You guys played the Lakers in the seeding games. You had 15 points, 6-for-6 from the field. What can you personally take away from that game as it relates to this series coming up?

MICHAEL PORTER JR.: Yeah, I just got to be aggressive. Sometimes, especially in the Playoffs, you just want to find the very best shot. But for me, I'm an offensive player so I'm out there to score the ball. For me sometimes I got to be looking for my shot, especially against this team. That's something the coaches and everybody tell me, don't be shy to shoot it.

I had a pretty good game against them last time. It's the Playoffs now. It's a whole different level of basketball. But I'm going to go out there and try to be aggressive.