Porter: Nuggets must involve more than Jokic, Murray to beat Clippers

Michael Porter Jr. believes the Denver Nuggets aren't sharing the ball enough in their series against the Los Angeles Clippers.

The Nuggets forward scored 15 points in Denver's 96-85 Game 4 loss Wednesday but went scoreless on just two field-goal attempts in the second half. Nuggets stars Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray, meanwhile, had 11 and nine attempts, respectively, for 14 second-half points apiece.

No other Nuggets player attempted more than three shots in the final two quarters, and Porter suggested it hurt the team down the stretch.

"That is up to the play-calling, the coaches, and whose hands they want to put the ball in," he said postgame, according to ESPN's Royce Young. "We kept going to (Jokic) and (Murray) and they are two amazing players, but I just think to beat them we need to get more players involved.

"We have to move the ball a little bit better. We can't be predictable against that team."

The numbers may support Porter's assessment. In Game 2, Denver's only win of the series, Porter was among six players to attempt at least four second-half field goals.

Porter, 21, intends to speak to head coach Michael Malone and his staff about opening up opportunities for more players moving forward.

"I think if I am going to be out there on the floor playing a lot of minutes, I think I should voice that," he said. "I will probably talk to the coaches and tell them what I see being out there on the floor just letting them know, look, they know what we are doing.

"We have to swing the ball. We have a lot of players that can play basketball and score, so we have to get some more guys involved."

The rookie's decision to publicly question his team's ball movement drew criticism from Damian Lillard and Nikola Vucevic, among other NBA players.

Porter is averaging 12.1 points and 7.1 rebounds while shooting 36.8% from deep in his first postseason.