Michael Porter Jr. played at “20 or 30%” with shoulder injury in Nuggets’ Game 3 loss

INGLEWOOD, Calif. — Michael Porter Jr. was playing at “20 or 30%” health in the Nuggets’ Game 3 loss to the Clippers on Thursday, leaving him uncertain whether it’s worth playing through his shoulder injury again in Game 4.

“If I can go out there and feel more confident that I can help the team, then I’m gonna play,” he said. “But if it’s still in a place like it is today and I don’t feel like I can help the team at all, then there’s no point in trying to go out there.”

Porter was held to seven points and six rebounds on a 2-for-9 shooting night in Denver’s 117-83 loss. The Nuggets lost his 35 minutes by 25 points. He’s averaging 8.3 points per game in the first-round series on 38% shooting from the field.

“This is like a four- or five-week injury, they say,” he said. “Tried to go out there, but it was tough.”

Porter sprained the AC joint in his left shoulder late in Game 2, which the Nuggets lost on Monday. The reason he felt comfortable playing through it in Los Angeles, he said, was that he was told using his shoulder wouldn’t worsen the injury or lengthen the recovery time.

It would just be painful.

“You use your shoulder for everything,” he said. “You go over your head for everything. It was tough to rebound. It was tough to bring it up to shoot. Probably like 20 or 30%. I couldn’t really use it. I couldn’t use it, like, at all. I couldn’t bring it over my head yesterday. Today, I could barely bring it over my head.”