Calling his shot broken, Michael Porter Jr. has impact on Game 5, Nuggets' NBA title

DENVER − Michael Porter Jr. called his jump shot broken.

"I didn't play well offensively, to my capabilities," Porter said, adding, "I don't know what was going on with my shot. I really don't care. I'll fix it in the offseason."

Porter doesn’t need to worry about his shot now. He is an NBA champion following the Denver Nuggets’ 94-89 victory against the Miami Heat in Game 5 of the NBA Finals.

Porter is right. He didn’t play well offensively in the Finals. He averaged 9.6 points, well below his season average of 17.4 points, and against Miami, he made just 32.8% of his shots and just 14.3% on 3-pointers.

But he also averaged 8.4 rebounds, and despite his lack of offense, the Nuggets were better with Porter on the court than off the court against Miami.

In Game 5, Porter kept shooting, and when the Nuggets were in need of a basket Porter delivered. He made a 3-pointer and had a creative (perhaps accidental) through-the-legs dribble on a layup in an important third quarter.

He finished with 16 points and 13 rebounds. In the third quarter of a chaotic, points-were-tough-to-get game, Porter had seven points. He kept shooting even when he probably should’ve stopped. But the points he scored kept Denver from falling deeper behind or helped extend a Nuggets lead.

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Throughout the Finals, Nuggets coach Michael Malone defended Porter’s performance. He said the Nuggets don’t have specialists who do one thing only, such as score. He said the Nuggets have basketball players, guys who can do multiple things so if that they’re not scoring, they’re contributing in other meaningful ways.

"It's a maturation, a continued maturation," Malone said. "We all know that Michael didn't shoot the ball as well as we know he can. That's going to happen at times. This is a great experience for him because I think he realized, as I continue to tell our team, there are no specialists allowed on this squad. If your jump shot is not falling, do something else to help teammates. Not yourself, help your teammates: defending, rebounding, hustling, whatever it may be."

Porter, who has had three back surgeries in six years, has plenty of time to work on his offense in the offseason.

"I just stayed with it," he said. "Even tonight, it wasn't my best shooting night, but I just kept playing hard. That's all you can control is your effort. I could have scored zero points. I don't care, we won a championship. Can't nobody tell me nothing."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Michael Porter Jr. has impact on Nuggets' NBA title despite struggles