INDIANAPOLIS — Michael Porter Jr. returned from the 2024 All-Star break with a sunburn courtesy of Cabo San Lucas and a silky jump shot. He returned from the 2025 All-Star break with a momentary glitch in that jumper, courtesy of a healing hamstring.
He also returned with some catching up to do on cardio.
“It was relaxing. Probably too relaxing, honestly,” Porter said Monday night, laughing. “For having an injury, I think I probably was a little bit too relaxed and probably should have tried to do some more running over the break.”
Porter’s bid for an Iron Man season ended after 52 games when a strained left hamstring caused him to miss the Nuggets’ last three games before All-Star weekend. Before the injury, he had played in 165 of the previous 166 games, dating back to the start of Denver’s 2023 playoff run.
He has played in all three games since the break, too, slowly regaining rhythm and stamina. After scoring 19 combined points on 28% shooting against the Hornets and Lakers, he looked more like himself in Denver’s 125-116 win over the Pacers. Porter amassed 19 points, 11 rebounds and three assists, even throwing down a dunk over Myles Turner and Tyrese Haliburton to put an exclamation point on the win.
“It doesn’t surprise me. I think that obviously, I’ve been through a lot (with past injuries), but I still can do that,” Porter said. “I need to try, especially when the jumper’s not falling, to get downhill.”
The defining aspect of Porter’s game is still lagging after 14 days between games. He’s now shooting 1 for 10 from the 3-point line since the break. Last season, he went 44% beyond the arc in Denver’s first 15 contests after All-Star.
One of his 3s in Indiana was even blocked by Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton, according to Porter, though Haliburton didn’t get credited in the box score. Porter has a nearly impenetrable release point at 6-foot-10, so any time someone gets a hand on his jumper, it almost inevitably gets stowed in his memory. When asked who the last player was to block him on a 3-pointer, his recall was instant.
“Probably JaMychal Green,” Porter said. “I remember he blocked one of my 3s a long time ago. I was surprised. Yeah. But Tyrese got lucky because it was from the side. Oh, and Derrick White had one a couple of years ago in Boston, trailing behind me and blocked it. But they got lucky.”
Injuries to Porter can be particularly worrying for the Nuggets due to his history of back surgeries, not to mention the leg brace he wears as a result of those procedures. But this one was no big deal, as he described it. Nor was it a wear-and-tear situation before the break.
“I did over-stretch my hamstring. I did get a little strain. So that’s why I took those couple of games off. I think if it was a playoff-type of thing, I may have tried to push through,” he said. “But the couple of games off definitely took me out of rhythm. It was hard to get back in shape. Especially after the break. I hadn’t ran at all for those three games I missed before the break, and then over the break, I didn’t run, so the first time I really ran was that first game back against (Charlotte).
“Now I’m just kind of getting my wind back and getting my groove back. It’s still not ‘a hundred a hundred’ percent, but it’ll be back in probably the next couple of games.”
Porter’s season has been good enough that even taking into account his current blip, he’s one of six players in the NBA shooting 41% or better from three on 300 or more attempts. He’s averaging 6.3 per game.
His customary post-break bump has simply been delayed for now — the result of an injury that was more irksome than unsettling.
“Every game, it’s gonna keep on improving,” he said. “I think I was a little hesitant the first couple games back from break just because it was my first couple of games back on it, but every game I’m feeling more comfortable. It’s healing and getting better.”
As for the break itself? Porter made it back to Denver unscathed by the sun this time.
The destination? “It’s a secret location,” he said, grinning.
