Porter Jr.’s Memorable Nuggets Playoffs…
Throughout 2023 and 2024, the Denver Nuggets seemed to have a bigger hold over the Los Angeles Lakers than Wi-Fi has on our daily lives. Even with superstars like LeBron James and Anthony Davis, the Lakers struggled against the Nuggets, particularly in the playoffs. While Nikola Jokic led the team and Jamal Murray shot clutch threes that could make anyone spill their popcorn, Michael Porter Jr. was the surprising key to their success. At one point, the Lakers lost 10 games straight to the Nuggets, and in back-to-back playoffs, they could only scrape out one lonely victory. Porter recently recalled these matches fondly on the Glory Daze Podcast, sharing how he liked cooking the Lakers to perfection. The Lakers fans always believed they could beat them, but Porter would serve them a hot dish of “not today” with a sprinkle of epic playoffs.
Even though thinking about it might send Lakers fans into a frenzy, Porter went full superhero mode during those series. In the 2023 Western Conference Finals, he delivered a whopping average of 15 points and 9.3 rebounds while firing threes at 42.4%. By 2024’s first round, he was practically shooting threes faster than you can say “holy moly!” with a mind-blowing 48.8% success rate while hammering down 22.8 points and 8.4 rebounds. Interestingly, this offseason, the Nuggets decided to trade Porter to the Brooklyn Nets, marking the end of this epic rivalry. The Lakers and Nuggets games during NBA Rivalry Week will certainly test all the TV remotes in the area—viewers will need them to handle all this basketball drama!
