NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: LAKERS VS. NUGGETS

September 23, 2020

Michael Porter

Denver Nuggets

Practice Day

Q. What was the mood like after Game 2 and how did you guys transition to have the right mindset, clear head going into Game 3 and able to respond like you guys did?

MICHAEL PORTER JR: We were frustrated. I mean, rightly so; it was a tough loss. But we were texting the group chat of the team, like don't let this get us down. If anything, let this feel like we can beat these dudes, like we were right there. Let us go into the next game confident and not deflated.

Q. When the Lakers are making that run in the fourth quarter last night, especially for you as a rookie, and I know you're a basketball player so I shouldn't even use that as an excuse, but who are you leaning on when they're making runs like that? Who is bringing you guys together? I noticed Paul Millsap brought the group together on the floor to maybe talk things through, but who says this is nothing to worry about, let's settle down and get this job done?

MICHAEL PORTER JR: It's different guys at different times. We've got a lot of pretty mature dudes on our team, and we don't let ourselves get too down. There's different voices in the timeouts and huddles. Like you said, I think last night Paul said something. But yeah, we all try to stay pretty positive, even in those moments when teams go on runs.

Q. What was your reaction personally and as a team to the Breonna Taylor news?

MICHAEL PORTER JR: We had a heavy heart. What are you talking about specifically?

Q. Today the Attorney General in Kentucky decided that they were going to charge one of the three officers involved not directly with Breonna Taylor's death but with firing shots into two other apartments that weren't actually her apartment. As it stands right now, there will be no criminal charges brought against --

MICHAEL PORTER JR: See, I didn't even know that. I don't have Instagram, I don't have Twitter. And you said that happened today?

Q. It happened as you guys were walking into practice.

MICHAEL PORTER JR: See, I had no idea, but I mean, that's --

Q. I'll read it. Three counts of first-degree wanton endangerment by the grand jury in the fatal shooting of Breonna Taylor. No other officer other than Brett Hankison has been charged at this time.

MICHAEL PORTER JR: I mean, there's really no words for that. Everybody knows that's not right. I mean, this is the first time I'm hearing about that, but that's heartbreaking because I know a lot of people have been doing a lot of steps trying to get the justice that situation needs. And to hear that that happened is not right.

Q. Over the first two games, obviously Jamal and Nikola were huge and you could almost count on their production. How much of a concerted effort was it from you, from Monte, from Jerami to be that supporting role, play that supplemental role and sort of help them and ease some of that burden last night?

MICHAEL PORTER JR: We just try to do our job. We try to go out there and just play our part and do what we can do to help the team win. It's going to be a good night for different guys at different times, so we just try to play our part.

Q. You had a couple of pretty big shots over LeBron James last night in crunch time. It seemed like when you did that you were able to pep up a little bit. When you're doing that at this level against a player like that, do you ever take a minute to be like, wow, this is where we're at and these are the shots I'm hitting?

MICHAEL PORTER JR: No, because I respect LeBron so much. I grew up -- any young guy does, idolize him. For me, I want to be where he is one day, so I try to put that perception away when I'm on the floor and just play basketball. If he's matched up against me, try to do what I always do. You want to respect guys, but you don't want to respect them too much when you're on the floor.

Q. What was it like to be guarded by him, especially as they tightened up their zone defense down the stretch?

MICHAEL PORTER JR: They got us on the zone defense. They definitely made us struggle. I think they went on a 19-2 run and it was tough for us. But the guys, we handled it pretty well down the stretch. Jamal made some huge shots. Jerami had an outstanding game. It was a good game. It was a good tactic by them and kind of caught us by surprise, but I think we weathered the storm and played pretty good toward the end.

Q. Coach specifically today was talking about how you guys' story and what you're doing in terms of being resilient and being underdogs might be an inspiration to people all over the world right now, especially given what everybody is kind of going through and the adversity that's been thrown individuals' ways. What does that mean to you to have an opportunity to be a role model and to be a part of this team that is lifting people up in times where they might need it?

MICHAEL PORTER JR: It's really cool to be a part of this special thing because, like you said, a lot of people are jumping on to our support team just because of the story of us coming back down from 3-1 twice and the perseverance and everything. I've gotten some texts from people I haven't gotten texts from for a long time, just how we are an encouragement to them and we are inspiring them to keep fighting and this and that. It's crazy how sports can do that to people all around the world. It's definitely something special that we're a part of, and we're going to try to keep it going.