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Denver Nuggets: Michael Malone Vehemently Disagrees With Michael Porter Jr. on Their Failure to Defend the Title in 2023-24

Originally posted on Hardwood Heroics | By Jordan Samar | Last updated 5/25/24

Denver Nuggets swingman Michael Porter Jr. blamed himself for the team’s second-round exit at the hands of the Minnesota Timberwolves, but coach Michael Malone is not hearing any of it.

“This was a terrible series. I felt like I might’ve had one or two good games out of the seven we played,” lamented Porter via Bennett Durando of The Denver Post.

“It’s just tough because I know if I would have played up to par with how I normally play, we would have won this series. And there’s a lot of things that could have been different as a team, but I know if I had played my part, we would have won the series. And I’ve got to live with that,” he added.

Michael Malone quickly leaped to Porter’s defense, saying he deserved some blame too.

“I’d be remiss if I didn’t say that I couldn’t disagree with (Michael Porter Jr.) more. I don’t want Michael Porter putting the series loss on him. We win together, we lose together,” Malone said via Rachel Strand from ClutchPoints. “Michael is a huge part of our team. We do not beat the LA Lakers without Michael Porter’s stellar play, efficient play.

Michael Porter Jr. regressed badly for the Denver Nuggets in the second round

After torching the Los Angeles Lakers with averages of 22.8 points, 8.4 rebounds, and 1.2 steals per game on 55.3 percent shooting from the field and an astounding 48.8 percent from three-point land, Michael Porter Jr. had a rough time against the Minnesota Timberwolves.

The Denver Nuggets forward’s averages dipped to 10.7 points and 5.7 rebounds on 37.1 percent shooting from the field and 32.5 percent from three-point land, and he only had one double-digit scoring outing in their Game 3 win where he recorded 21 points.