Almost from the moment Nets forward Michael Porter got salary dumped by Denver, he had Thursday’s mile high return circled on his calendar.
Porter had the best game of his best season.
But he didn’t get the victory, Brooklyn falling 107-103 to the Nuggets at Ball Arena.
In his first game back in Denver — where he was drafted in 2018 and won an NBA title in 2023 — Porter had a spectacular night. He poured in a season-best 38 points — one shy of his career high — on 7-for-14 from deep, with 10 rebounds, three assists and two steals.
For a struggling, short-handed Nets team, Porter did everything. Except win.
After Brooklyn trailed by as many as 19, they led 94-92 with 2:56 left. But they coughed up an 8-0 run and never recovered.
“It’s a very unique situation where I think both organizations and both teams benefited from the trade. And I don’t look back at it with any saltiness towards the organization or anything,” said Porter beforehand.
“It’s just completely different situations. Now I’m the leader on the team, and I’m helping to lead young guys, 19-, 20-, 21-year-olds and teach them about winning, winning habits, winning culture, a lot that I learned from my time in Denver…Now I’m going to be able to share that with young guys, young talented players who will be in the NBA longer than I will. So that’s pretty cool, I think.”
Thursday was a reminder just how much these young Nets (12-34) have to learn.
Playing without Egor Dëmin, Noah Clowney and Cam Thomas, no other Net scored more than Terance Mann’s dozen points. Nic Claxton had 10 points, eight boards and seven assists. But it was the endgame where their lack of experience came through, even against a Nuggets team minus Nikola Jokic and Aaron Gordon.
The Nets lost their seventh straight and are 2-14 in January.
They moved into a tie with Washington for fourth in the lottery odds, a game behind third-place Indiana. They’re two ahead of sixth-place Utah, where they play Friday night in the tail end of this high-altitude back-to-back.
But that will be little solace after this gut-wrencher.
“Yeah, I don’t think I have to gas it up anymore for [Porter]. He’s excited, he’s happy to be here. Obviously memories, good ones, and I know he’s excited,” said Jordi Fernández.
The Nets gave up 27 points to Jamal Murray and 25 to Tim Hardaway Jr.
Brooklyn trailed 62-43 on Murray free throws.
It was still 64-46 with 33.9 seconds left in the first half before the Nets got back into the game with a 24-6 run that spanned into the third quarter.
Porter found Tyrese Martin for a bucket that tied it at 70-all.
Down just 77-76 in the waning seconds of the third, rookie Ben Saraf threw the ball away to Julian Strawther, who beat the buzzer with a layup. It sparked a 6-0 Nuggets run that left Brooklyn in a seven-point hole.
But Porter led another Nets comeback, his steal and layup tying it at 90-all with 5:56 left. Mann’s strong downhill drive gave them a 94-92 lead.
But they couldn’t hold it against the veteran Nuggets. Brooklyn coughed up an 8-0 blitz in just over a minute. Murray had five points in the run, his and-one leaving the Nets in a 100-94 hole with 1:48 to play.
The Nets didn’t have another rally in them.