Michael Porter Jr.’s 39 points lead Nuggets to Rout of Pelicans

Like Nuggets’ Michael Porter Jr. Are aware of, the trade deadline is part of the company in the NBA.

“As long as I am here, I will be here and I will be happy and I will play hard and try to be available and try to help win games,” Porter said Monday.

On Wednesday night, before the deadline, Porter started and showed again how valuable he can be.

He tied a career mound with 39 points on 16 out of 23 shoots, pulled 12 rebounds and exhausted four assists in Denver’s 144-119 Rout of New Orleans. It was the Nuggets’ fourth win in a row.

“A trade is not something you can control, so I will not be stressed about it, but it is nice to be a place where you are in demand,” Porter said. “Knowing that our coach (Michael Malone) and our GM (Calvin Booth) say that … I know things can quickly change in this league, but it’s nice to know you’re wanted.”

Malone is excited about Porter’s recent performance.

“It’s just so amazing to watch him play at such a high level … On the way into the All-Star break,” said coach Michael Malone. “The thing is (when he plays well), is just the aggression and not ease (his) way into the game.

“There are times when I can help with it and make sure the ball finds him. But if you map the 39 points tonight, yes, we ran a lot of acting for him tonight, but much of it was him – running, passing, moving mowing.

“I thought he had a lot of good passports tonight – four assists – and he had a really complete game tonight.”

Porter’s performance came after he scored 36 points on Monday night in Denver’s 125-113 win over Pelicans.

A little strange had Malone when asked Monday about a possible trade, said: “Michael is a really important piece. Michael helped us win a championship. So we get to see what happens that goes into the coming Thursday, but to my knowledge there have been no (trade) conversations. “

With Nikola Jokic Scoring 38 points and a needy Christian Braun adding 23, Nuggets seemed to flood New Orleans at any time Monday night.

They did early in the third quarter and hit the Pelicans as a tidal wave. New Orleans led 72-70, but Denver went on 9-0 races, and when Braun buried a baseline 3-pointer from a Fastbreak Assist of Porter, Denver led 81-72 with 9:35 back in the third and ended the quarter with 45 points.

From that time, Nuggets were in total command and they ran the pelicans out of a violent ball arena. Nugget’s exhausted 40 assists, led by Aaron Gordon, who tied a career mound with 12. Their ball movement was dazzling in the second half.

“If you are a fan of this game, how can you not love to watch the nuggets play,” Malone said. “The ball movement, the body movement, the selflessness. The ball does not cling. The number of wide -open shots we generated with our ball movement was fun to look at. “

With the game well in hand, the fans even began to make the wave in the fourth quarter as they waited to see if Porter finally could reach the magic 40-point plateau. He was aware that he was on the cusp of a personal best.

Porter’s tip-in bucket with 3:16 back to play gave him 39 points, but he missed an open 3-pointer who would have given him his 40.

“Coach called a theater piece for me to try to get 40, but I just missed it,” Porter said.

When Malone took him out of the two -minute brand, the fans gave Porter a standing ovation. Porter and Jamal Murray went up when they got to the bench.

“They gave me a hard time that I didn’t get 40,” Porter said with a smile.

Nuggets improved to 15-2 all the time when Porter scores 30 or more points.

The nuggets came out of the gate sluggish, and the first quarter was a 36-36 stalemate. The Pelicans spread the wealth while Porter and Jokic went out of Denver. Porter scored 13 points on 4 out of 5 shoots, including 3 of 4 on 3-Pointers. Despite an airball on a wide-open 3-pointer from the top of the key, scored 12 and released three assists.

3-point difference, something that has stabbed Denver much of the season, allowed the Pelicans to hang around in a first half that ended up with the score attached 68-68.

While nuggets chucked up 25 first half 3s, they only made seven (28%), with Jokic walking 2 for 8. Meanwhile, New Orleans were 7 of 15 (46.7%) behind the arch.