The Denver Nuggets are in a bad situation. Despite winning an NBA championship less than two seasons ago with a core that included Nikola Jokić, Jamal Murray, Michael Porter, and Aaron Gordon, the team now faces the danger of being eliminated from the first round of the Western Conference playoffs by the Los Angeles Clippers.
Although the Nuggets finished the season with the third seed and had home-court advantage heading into this series, they lost Game 2 and Game 3 to fall into a 2-1 deficit.
Perhaps things would have gone differently if the Nuggets had not been dealing with injuries. Recent reports reveal that Porter is one of many stars on the roster playing through injury.
Michael Porter Jr.’s Status Before Game 4 of Nuggets vs. Clippers
While Jokić and Murray are the Nuggets’ two best players, Porter could be considered their third-best offensive player. Unfortunately for Nuggets fans, Porter sustained an injury to the AC joint on his shoulder in Game 2 of this first-round series.
The acromioclavicular joint is where the collarbone meets the shoulder blade, and is clearly a tricky injury to diagnose and rehabilitate. Porter reportedly sustained this injury in Game 2. However, he decided to play through it for Game 3 as he was told that it would not get worse and simply be painful.
.@MarcJSpears is worried about the Nuggets after losing Game 3 to the Clippers.
“[Michael Porter Jr.] may not play Saturday, [Jamal Murray’s] hurting, [Russell Westbrook] is hurting, Aaron [Gordon] told me he can barely jump right now.” 😳 pic.twitter.com/GKlP7jtAcz
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) April 25, 2025
Not having Porter at full strength for Game 3 undoubtedly hurt the Nuggets. He scored seven points in 36 minutes of action and made two of nine shot attempts. Porter later revealed that his shoulder injury had limited his impact in Game 3 to a fraction of his full ability.
“You use your shoulder for everything….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.”
Since Porter has established himself as a solid long-distance shooter for the Nuggets, there is no getting around the fact that his shoulder injury heavily affected his performance in Game 3. According to Nuggets’ injury report, the Nuggets star has been listed as questionable heading into Game 4.
While Porter’s presence will undoubtedly determine the outcome of Game 4, several other players are expected to have a big impact on this game.
Key Players Who Could Dictate Game 4
Kawhi Leonard finally looks healthy for the Clippers and is a force to be reckoned with. Since wing players like Porter and Gordon are not at full strength, Leonard is expected to dominate and have a big game against the Nuggets.
Jokić is also another star that fans should keep their eyes on. With his team banged up, Jokić will have to put up a ridiculous stat line to help his team win Game 4 and keep this series alive. After all, losing will ensure they fall into a 3-1 deficit, surely harming their chances of winning the series.
