On their road trip out in the wild, wild west, the tank-committed Brooklyn Nets went for their not-so-magnificent seventh loss in a row tonight. The Denver Nuggets, knocking on San Antonio’s door for the second seed in their respective conference, were eager to oblige. The deal looked jeopardized more than once, but eventually, everyone got what they needed.
Still, game no. 46 for Brooklyn offered more than a blunt exchange between two teams headed in opposite directions. It was also Michael Porter Jr.’s first game back in Denver, where he was drafted, spent the first six years of his career, and won an NBA championship. Scoring numbers, and emotions, were both high…
“I think it’s what he deserves,” Fernández said postgame of the crowd’s embrace for MPJ. “He’s been part of this club for, I think it’s seven years, and winning a championship here, this being your home for many years, I know this is a business, but for him, it means a lot, to the people here, from his teammates to the fans and everybody. else. They mean the world to him…So, you know, I think it’s very special.”
Porter Jr. had his whole family in the building tonight and wasted little time giving them something to cheer for. MPJ opened the game with 13 points in 10 first quarter minutes, helping the Nets lead by as many as five during the inaugural frame…
While the setting was second nature to Porter Jr., the cast around him wasn’t. Already shorthanded on talent, the Nets also went into this one with fewer bodies than usual. Noah Clowney (back), Cam Thomas (calf), and Egor Dëmin (plantar fascia) all sat out for injury management purposes. Ziaire Williams also missed the contest with a left calf contusion.
But while that stunted the game’s competitive ambiance, it did give us Nolan Traorè‘s first career start. Brooklyn’s second first rounder from the 2025 NBA Draft spent most of this season’s first half on Long Island, but has had the look of a pro since coming up. He dropped a career-high 21 points against the Boston Celtics last week and has his averages up to 5.8/2.7/1.2 on the season. He joined Porter to start the game alongside fellow rookie Danny Wolf, Nic Claxton, and Terance Mann.
Despite Porter Jr.’s early onslaught and Traoré game-breaking speed making an early entrance, the Nets trailed after one by a 30-26 score. Denver benefited from a 7-11 shooting start from beyond the arc, boosted by Tim Hardaway Jr.‘s 4-5 start as an individual.
The three-point shot proved to be a double-edged sword in the second. At one end, Denver kept poking the Nets from afar, going 10-15 from three in the period. At the other, it lured them into empty possession after empty possession, with Brooklyn shooting 5-16 from there by halftime.
It was Hardaway again, pushing on that blade the most in the second. He went into the half with 19 points while shooting 7-8 from the field and 5-6 from deep. When he or others weren’t hitting from downtown, Jamal Murray was drawing doubles and finding his teammates for easy buckets.
The Net offense seemed almost nonexistent minus Porter, who waltzed into 20 first half points while shooting 7-13 from the field. Traoré did well penetrating Denver’s defense but his teammates struggled to finish off possessions both near and far from the rim. Nets not named Porter Jr. combined for just 17 points by the break.
The Nuggets began the second half with a comfortable 64-49 advantage, but the Nets wouldn’t let them stay settled for long. Brooklyn opened the third on a 16-4 run, fueled by some resurgent shooting from deep, tighter defensive rotations and a willingness to push in the full court. Within three minutes of play in third, the Nets were already within three (now say that three times fast).
With the game reaching its most exciting point, both teams of course then went scoreless for the next three and a half minutes. After that brief wait, the Nets eventually tied, boiling their extended run to 24-6, but Denver swung back with their primary weapon from the first half, with Hardaway canning another three soon after. The Nuggets were able to tread water after getting that lift from him, going into the fourth up by a 79-76 margin, also thanks in part to this fumble in the backfield by Ben Saraf…
Jordi Fernández started the fourth with a five featuring him, Sharpe, Jalen Wilson, Tyrese Martin, and Drake Powell. At first, old blood looked superior to the new, as ex-Net Bruce Brown put in a quick six points against that less experience lineup to keep his team ahead.
It wasn’t until just under the eight minute mark of the fourth when Porter Jr. came back in. After doing so, he immediately nailed his seventh three of the night, pushing his scoring total up to 34 by that point. His next bucket, which he earned for himself off a steal, came three minutes later and made it a tie game 90-90 with 5:55 to go.
And while Porter Jr. continued his big night, Traoré picked up the slack for the Net youth movement. The Brooklyn Bugatti gave his team exactly what it needed on both ends after checking in with 7:02 to play, battling for loose balls and plunging into the Nugget defense as if he were the 19th century gold miner.
Traoré eventually put the Nets up by two with 4:30 to go, giving them their first lead since since the score was 31-30.
“Keep doing what the team needs from you, and I think they both have done it,” Fernández said of Traoré and Wolf. “Nolan, touching the pain, get everybody organized, playing pick and roll. He looked like composed at all times.”
But unfortunately for Brooklyn, that made it crunch time, and that’s when no. 27 on the other team thrives. After that quick burst, Murray promptly scored or assisted on eight straight points for Denver. That gave his Nuggets a 100-94 lead with 1:48 remaining.
Both teams then went back and forth for a few possessions, including one that gave Porter Jr. a season high in scoring and an important stamp of validation for a “revenge” game. However, as time on the clock shrank, Denver’s lead never followed, and that made it a slow crawl to a loss for Brooklyn.
Once we got under a minute, the Nets only had enough tokens left for a run at the free throw game. Remember when Jonas Valančiūnas gave Paul Pierce x Kevin Garnett all they could handle in the first round of the 2014 NBA playoffs? Well, he’s playing in his 14th season right now, and stuck around to stick it to us one more time. He iced this one, making both his shots from the stripe to make it a four point game with just two seconds left.
“I think it was a good fight,” Fernández said postgame. “And at the end, obviously Jamal made some tough shots, but the fact that we were up two, or whatever it was, with two minutes to go, I’m proud of the guys who are playing winning basketball and competitive basketball.”
Porter Jr. finished with 38 points, 10 rebounds, and three assists while shooting 13-28 from the field and 7-15 from deep.
“Yeah, I think his effort, especially offensively, finishing cuts and being aggressive, that was awesome,“ Fernández said. ”Also with 10 rebounds, three assists, one turnover, very good line for him. I think he was that part of that third quarter that brought us back, and when he’s locked in defensively, with his size, keep bodies in front and rebounding, that’s when we had really good quarters. So, credit to the whole team. Mike did his job. We know how efficient he is.“
In the end, Porter Jr. got his flowers, perhaps even more respect, but the Nuggets got the win.
Final: Denver Nuggets 107, Brooklyn Nets 103
- Porter Jr. had a season-high 38 points with 10 rebounds. It is tied as the third-most points in a game in his career (high of 39, twice). This is the first time in his career with 35+ points in back-to-back games and his 10th career 30-point double-double (third of the season).
- Going 7-13 tonight and 6-10 from 3-point territory last time out at PHX (1/27), Porter Jr. is the 10th player in Nets history to make 6+ 3-pointers in back-to-back games.
- Porter Jr. had his seventh 20-point half this season, which establishes his most in any career season (had six halves with 20+ points in 2024-25).
With tonight’s loss and the Wizards’ win, five teams including the Nets are now at 12 wins. Because the Nets have played few games, they are officially tied for the No. 4 seed in the Tankathon rankings, but the Kings, Pelicans, Pacers, Nets and Wizards are all essentially tied for the top spot. And if teams tie for a top pick? They’ll share chances and ping pong balls come May 10, officially announced yesterday as date of the lottery.
While Ziaire Williams’ injury certainly looked concerning when Traoré and Haywood Highsmith had to carry him off the floor on Tuesday, Jordi Fernández downplayed it pregame.
“Just a contusion,” Fernández said. “He won’t be ready for tonight obviously but it’s just day to day. The good thing is that it’s nothing major, it’s just not allowing him to play right now. Hopefully we’ll have him back soon.”
We’ll provide more updates as they come in on Williams. He’s already missed a handful of games this month with an illness.
Rob Gray-Imagn Images
Brooklyn’s road trip takes them to Salt Lake City next, where the Nets will play their second and final game of the year vs the Utah Jazz. Brooklyn fell to them at home nearly two months ago despite a 29-point performance from Noah Clowney. If you’re staying in to watch this one, you’ll still have yourself a late Friday night. Out west, this game tips at 9:30 p.m. ET.
