David Adelman ‘very optimistic’ Michael Porter Jr. can play Nuggets’ Game 3 at Clippers

Michael Porter Jr. participated in a light practice Wednesday at Ball Arena before the Nuggets flew to Los Angeles for Games 3 and 4 of their NBA playoff series against the Clippers.

Porter’s status for Thursday night’s Game 3 of the first-round series remains up in the air after he sprained his left shoulder late in Game 2.

“I’m very optimistic, because I don’t think he gets enough credit for how tough he is, what he’s played through over these years,” interim coach David Adelman said. “His pain threshold is something that people don’t understand. … So, do I know if Mike’s going to play? No. But I do know if Mike can play, he will.”

The pre-flight practice wasn’t rigorous. Adelman explained that he wanted to “just get guys moving” and walk through what Denver saw from the Clippers in Game 2, a 105-102 loss.

Porter revealed after a 15-point, 15-rebound performance that he’s also struggling to break in a new leg brace; the one he wore for three years under his left sock broke recently.

The shoulder injury occurred on a turnover with 1:35 left in the fourth quarter. According to Adelman, that was the reason Porter wasn’t in the game for the ending, when Denver pushed up the floor without using a timeout and missed a pair of last-second 3s. On the sideline, though, Porter appeared ready to check back in.

“We had the numbered break, didn’t get a good shot. The regret was not the shot we got. It was more that Mike wasn’t on the court,” Adelman reflected. “And to be honest, I didn’t know if he was going to go back on the court. I knew he was in a lot of pain. Took himself out, rightfully so. You don’t want to be on the court when you’re in that kind of pain.”

Game 3 tips off at 8 p.m. MT Thursday on NBA TV and Altitude Sports.

An illness has also been making its way through Ball Arena this week, “all the way through the front office,” Adelman said. But he did not indicate that it would prevent anyone from being available to play in Los Angeles.

Jamal Murray caught the bug was able to play through it on Monday.

“He showed up; I didn’t know if he was going to play. He was very sick,” Adelman said. “But you know how he is. He got hydrated. They put all the medical meds in him. Whatever they did, I don’t know. But he was able to play 40-plus minutes, feeling not so well. So he looked better today.”

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