Insider: Nuggets can t let Michael Porter play Game 6, if there is Game 7

An insider believes that the Denver Nuggets should take fierce action to leave Michael Porter Jr. absent this life-and-death sixth game.

The Denver Nuggets led the No. 2 seed Oklahoma City Thunder 2-1 in the second round of the playoffs, but are now facing elimination. An industry insider believes that Denver should cancel Michael Porter Jr.'s game in order to extend the series to Game 7.

Potter has been on the battlefield with injuries and has suffered a serious shoulder injury. He said he was in great pain and even felt very difficult to raise his left arm over his head. Of course, this also affected Porter’s performance, with his three-point shooting percentage in this series being 25.9%, down from 44.1% in the first round against the Los Angeles Clippers and 39.5% in the regular season.

Potter's performance declines – he missed all 10 3-pointers in the last two games – which led The Athletic's Tony Jones to a bold suggestion for Denver.

Jones posted on X (formerly Twitter): "If I were a Nuggets player - I knew it would hurt - I wouldn't have MPJ on the court tomorrow."

"It's obvious that his shoulders are not in the position on the court. Maybe give him a night, if Denver wins, let him play in Game 7."

Jones said in a subsequent post that he believed Porter was "a physical condition that was close to the brink of being unable to continue the game."

To his credit, Porter's performance exceeded most expectations for a player with acromioclavicular sprain, and Porter said it could take him four to six weeks to recover. Despite the injury, his performance in the Nuggets' seven first-round series wins remained invaluable.

And Porter’s poor performance and poor performance against Oklahoma City may be the responsibility of interim head coach David Adelman, who, despite his shooting percentage of 20% or less in every other game except for the third game, has averaged Porter for more than 30 minutes in every game in this series. In addition to his outstanding performance on 5-of-6 three-pointers in Denver’s home win, Porter made 2-of-21 and shot 5-of-32.

If Porter doesn't play, this may mean that Russell Westbrook, Payton Watson and Julian Strauser will all play more. The Nuggets’ rotation has been drastically reduced to seven players, including Porter, but Strauser appears to have found a way to get more playing time in recent games against the Thunder. The

Game 6 will be held in Denver tomorrow night at 6:30.