Denver Nuggets

Denver Nuggets star Michael Porter Jr. acknowledged the support he has received from his teammates amid a difficult time for him and his family.

"Definitely tried to compartmentalize, some bad and sad stuff happened to a couple of my brothers," he told reporters after Saturday's 114-103 win over the Los Angeles Lakers. "But I got, you know, 15, 16 more brothers in here, so I knew I had to be here for them and come in here and do my job and try to prepare to do it at a high level."

On Wednesday, the NBA banned Jontay Porter for betting on games and on one occasion providing inside information to a bettor. Days later, Coban Porter was sentenced to six years in prison after having pleaded guilty to DUI vehicular homicide and vehicular assault in connection to a fatal crash in January 2023.

Michael missed Friday's practice with the Nuggets to attend Coban's sentencing hearing. The 25-year-old said his teammates have individually reached out to him to offer whatever help they can.

"To have these guys understand why I missed practice yesterday and just had my back has been big for me," he said.

The Nuggets trailed the Lakers at halftime before outscoring Los Angeles by 14 points in the third quarter and taking control of the contest.

Porter played 38 minutes, finishing with 19 points, eight rebounds, one steal and two blocks.

The teams will return to the court Monday for Game 2 in Denver.

The start of the Denver Nuggets' title defense wasn't enough to distract Nikola Jokić from referencing his recent cameo in a trailer for the latest "Despicable Me" movie.

The Nuggets star arrived to Saturday's Game 1 against the Los Angeles Lakers in the signature striped scarf worn by Gru in "Despicable Me 4."

Nikola Jokić is fully committed to his Despicable Me 4 promo 😅 pic.twitter.com/dQdTIrBgTW

— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) April 20, 2024

Jokić's outfit referenced his cameo in a trailer released Saturday by Illumination.

In the trailer, Jokić goes to therapy and discusses the fact that he has been compared to the "Despicable Me" character on social media.

"I thought I looked really good that day. I put on this beautiful suit... they say I look like Gru," Jokić says in the trailer.

Just when you thought it was impossible to like Nikola Jokić any more, he shows up in this Despicable Me 4 Trailer pic.twitter.com/Nk4rx0QuKr

— Katy Winge (@katywinge) April 20, 2024

Jokić appears to be leaning into that connection as he prepares for a rematch against Los Angeles.

The Nuggets swept the Lakers last season in the Western Conference Finals on their way to the NBA title.

If Jokić's outfit on the way is any indication, the NBA's leading scorer isn't overly stressed about earning another four wins against LeBron James and the Lakers one year later.

Coban Porter, former University of Denver basketball player and brother of Denver Nuggets star Michael Porter Jr., was sentenced Friday to six years in prison for his role in a fatal DUI car crash in 2023, according to Janet Oravetz of 9News.

Michael Porter Jr. testified on Porter's behalf during the sentencing, which regarded a car crash that killed 42-year-old Katharina Rothman and seriously injured her passenger Jason Blanch in January 2023, according to Shelly Bradbury of the Denver Post.

Porter pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide (DUI) and vehicular assault (DUI) as part of a plea agreement, according to Oravetz.

Charges of vehicular homicide (reckless driving) and vehicular assault (reckless driving) were dismissed. Porter faced a maximum of eight years in prison with the plea agreement, and would have faced up to 24 years without it, Oravetz reported.

Porter will face serve three years of parole after his release, per Oravetz.

According to a statement of probable cause from the Denver police, Porter was driving an estimated 50 miles per hour and ran a red light at the time of the 2023 crash.

Police said Porter was slurring his words and smelled of alcohol on the scene, according to the statement. His blood-alcohol level allegedly tested at twice the legal limit.

Two additional lawsuits regarding the crash were filed in January by the victims and their families alleging a bar over-served Porter prior to the crash, according to KDVR's Samatha Jarpe. The plaintiffs are seeking a jury trial.

Jontay Porter, brother of Coban and Michael and former player for the Toronto Raptors, received a lifetime ban from the NBA earlier this week for violating league betting policies.

Denver Nuggets head coach Michael Malone is expecting LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers to enter the first-round playoff series laser-focused given the struggles they have had against the reigning NBA champs over the past two seasons.

Speaking to reporters Wednesday, Malone said the Lakers "want to flip that script" on the Nuggets this time.

The Lakers won two of the first three meetings with the Nuggets during the 2022-23 regular season.

Since then, the Nuggets have dominated their matchups with Los Angeles. They have won eight straight games, including a sweep in the 2023 Western Conference Finals en route to winning their first NBA championship.

The Lakers had James and Anthony Davis available for all three games against Denver in the regular season.

Davis will likely be the biggest X-factor for Los Angeles in this series. He averaged 22.0 points, 9.3 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game in the regular season, but his 47.4 field-goal percentage was his second-worst against a Western Conference opponent (41.9 percent in four games vs. the Sacramento Kings).

In addition to his offensive output in the series, Davis could draw a lot of defensive assignments against Nikola Jokić. That didn't go well for the Lakers in the playoffs last year.

Per the NBA's tracking data (h/t Joey Linn of SI.com), Jokić had 44 points on 51.5 percent shooting 25 assists in 128 possessions with Davis as his primary defender in the Western Conference Finals.

Things got so bad that reputable analysts were actually speculating about how Jokić was going to be slowed down in the rest of the series because he didn't look as dominant in Game 1 when Rui Hachimura was put on him in the second half.

For the record, Jokić averaged 27.8 points on 50.6 percent shooting (47.1 percent from three) with 14.5 rebounds and 11.8 assists per game in the series.

Last year's loss marked the first time James has been swept in a playoff series before the NBA Finals. His only previous loss in the first round of the postseason was to the Phoenix Suns in 2021.

The Lakers and Nuggets will play Game 1 of their series at Ball Arena on Saturday at 8:30 p.m. ET.

Selecting the 2023-24 NBA MVP may not be a simple choice for some voters.

But it is for Jamal Murray.

"I think everything speaks for itself," the Denver Nuggets guard told Bleacher Report when discussing teammate Nikola Jokić's MVP credentials. "No case is stronger than Nikola's. I think it's as plain and simple as that. We're the best team in the league, and each season his numbers get better and better. You can't say his numbers stink. And, yeah, we're the best team. We just won a championship.

"A lot of guys have great cases, I think there are a lot of great candidates. But no other case is bigger than Nikola's."

While Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Luka Dončić each made cases as well, it is starting to look like Jokić will make NBA history and join Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (six), Michael Jordan (five), Bill Russell (five), LeBron James (four), Wilt Chamberlain (four), Magic Johnson (three), Larry Bird (three) and Moses Malone (three) on the list of players to win the MVP three times.

The big man averaged 26.4 points, 12.4 rebounds, 9.0 assists and 1.4 steals per game while shooting 58.3 percent from the field and 35.9 percent from deep. He is in full control every time he has the ball with the ability to score on the blocks, run the offense from the elbow, extend his own game beyond the arc, find cutters and even handle the ball in transition.

Jokić was the primary reason Denver finished tied for the best record in the Western Conference, and his contributions were even more important this season because Murray dealt with various injuries to his hamstring, ankle, shin and knee on the way to 59 games and a minutes restriction at times.

Despite those health concerns, Murray finished with career-best marks in points per game (21.2), assists per game (6.5), field-goal percentage (48.1) and three-point percentage (42.5). Most importantly, he returned for the final five games of the season and is ramping up for the playoffs.

"I feel great," Murray said of his individual health. "The real stuff is coming."

The real race for the championship begins in the playoffs, but the Nuggets were in another race down the stretch of the regular season when he did return. They battled the Oklahoma City Thunder and Minnesota Timberwolves for the Western Conference's No. 1 seed and ended up with the same record as OKC at 57-25.

While the Thunder ended up with the No. 1 seed because of tiebreakers, Denver finished ahead of the Timberwolves in large part because of a head-to-head win on Wednesday.

Murray acknowledged the No. 1 seed would have been "big," but the confidence he took from the win over Minnesota stood out given the overall stakes and circumstances.

"It was a good test because we knew they were going to come ready to play," he said. "And I was coming back from injury for a back-to-back. We played with a lot of young guys. It was just a great overall boost for the team knowing what we can do and what we're capable of and how quickly things can change in the game. It was really fun to see all those young guys gain that confidence playing against that caliber of a team."

Winning games like that as a reigning champion leads to opportunities off the court as well, and Murray partnered with Cheetos for its latest Other Hand campaign that highlights how plenty of people—including NBA superstars—need to use their non-dominant hand when things get messy from snacking.

For Murray, that meant struggling to do things such as high fives and even dribbling a basketball in his latest commercial.

"It's been good," he said of the partnership. "I get a lot of Cheetos I get to take to the gym with me. I just thought it was fun to do this because I love Cheetos. Who doesn't? And the campaign about using your other hand is fun because I like to use my left hand in a lot of different ways."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ftzy4N7_5c4

Murray has been starring with both hands on the court long before he suited up for the Nuggets.

He was a First-Team All-SEC selection during his one collegiate season at Kentucky in 2015-16 before he was the No. 7 overall pick of the 2016 NBA draft. He helped lead the Wildcats to SEC regular-season and tournament championships while playing for head coach John Calipari.

While some Kentucky fans surely don't love that Calipari left for another program in the conference in Arkansas, the guard had nothing but love for the coach who helped him accomplish his NBA dreams.

"He's been there for so long, he's changed so many people's lives, mine included," Murray said. "I trusted him with my career and my path, I made sacrifices and he made sacrifices to put me in different positions to succeed. Not just me, but everyone else.

"I see him for who he is as a person, and not just an X's and O's guy. I'm more happy for Arkansas that they got somebody who is going to help the kids as people a lot more than people give him credit for. Not just the championships and all that.

"Anybody can coach anywhere and make a team better, but I'm more excited for what he's done for the organization. The love he'll get when he plays at Kentucky and goes back there is going to be really fun to see."

Murray will always receive plenty of love when he goes back to Kentucky as well, and he would love to do so as a two-time champion if everything goes according to plan in the postseason.

And what a difference a year makes for his Nuggets, as it was fair to question their overall ceiling heading into the 2023 playoffs even if they were clearly one of the best teams. After all, they had never won an NBA championship in franchise history and just lost to the Golden State Warriors in the first round of the 2022 playoffs.

It was the fourth consecutive exit in the playoffs before the Finals for the core group that revolved around Jokić, and the closest the team came was when it lost the 2020 Western Conference Finals to the Los Angeles Lakers in the bubble.

"You bring the same energy, but it is a different mindset," Murray said of the difference between going into the playoffs with and without a ring. "When you don't have the chip, you're trying to prove something and attack everything. You're trying to silence the haters and doubters. There's so much motivation because you've lost before and now you're trying to win."

All Denver did in the face of those 2023 doubts was break out one of the best playoff runs in recent memory. It cruised past the Timberwolves in the first round, defeated a Phoenix Suns team with Kevin Durant and Devin Booker in the second round, and then earned some Western Conference finals revenge with a clean sweep of the Lakers.

A championship was all but a formality by the time the Nuggets defeated the Miami Heat in five games in the Finals.

Murray, who scored more than 30 points in three of the four wins over the Lakers, was unbelievable in the postseason and averaged 26.1 points, 7.1 assists, 5.7 rebounds and 1.5 steals per game.

But he knows that success means the Nuggets are going to get everyone's best shot as they attempt to repeat.

"When you win, it's like, 'okay, we're here,'" he said. "It sinks in a little bit more that you're the champ. And now you have to bring it every time. I think everybody as a unit now knows that we have to be even better than we were last year to repeat.

"Most of the time when you watch film and you're trying to learn, you're looking for a lot of the negative stuff. It's easier to learn from the negatives than the positives because the positives work and it's like, 'oh, they work so we can just do it again.' But trying to learn from the positives is a little different process because you have teams adjusting for that and trying all these different gameplans, and now they're the ones trying to be the hunter and play with a certain type of aggression."

Denver already has its ring as a hunter. Now, it is time to find out whether it can win one as the hunted.

While Jamal Murray has yet to sign a contract extension with the Denver Nuggets, the star guard made it clear he wants to remain with the team until he retires.

"I love Denver, I want to be here the rest of my career," Murray said after the Nuggets win over the Timberwolves on Wednesday.

Jamal Murray on fan appreciation night: “I love Denver, I want to be here for the rest of my career.” pic.twitter.com/5C1zDL83C2

— Katy Winge (@katywinge) April 11, 2024

Murray is currently on a five-year, $158.253 million contract that runs through the end of the 2024-25 season. In October, Nuggets general manager Calvin Booth said the two sides didn't come to a deal over the offseason because Murray was looking to "maximize his earnings" through his play in the 2023-24 season.

This season, Murray is putting up 20.9 points and a career-high 6.6 assists per game. He was a huge part of the Nuggets' 2023 championship run, averaging 21.4 points and 10 assists against the Miami Heat in the Finals. Now, he's looking to lead them to another Finals appearance alongside co-star Nikola Jokić.

Murray, 27, has spent his entire seven-year career in Denver, and it seems he wants to retire with the Nuggets. For now, the team will look to give him the contract extension that he has earned to keep the star pairing of him and Jokić together for years to come.

With Wednesday's win over the Timberwolves, the Nuggets now hold the top spot in the Western Conference and will look to keep that position through the final two games of the regular season—a matchup with the San Antonio Spurs on Friday and a season finale against the Memphis Grizzlies on Sunday.

If it holds on to the No. 1 seed, Denver will be paired up with a play-in tournament team in the first round, which might not be an easy matchup. Currently, the Sacramento Kings have the No. 8 seed, but the Nuggets could have to face the Los Angeles Lakers, Golden State Warriors or Phoenix Suns in the first round.

If Murray can help lead the Nuggets to back-to-back championships, it would certainly help maximize his earnings this offseason.

It appears some around the NBA might not be too happy if Denver Nuggets star Nikola Jokić wins his third MVP award this season.

On the latest episode of the Hoop Collective podcast, ESPN's Tim MacMahon said one NBA executive believes that Jokić winning his third MVP in four years is "not going to age well."

MacMahon said (32:50 mark):

I had somebody with another team who was saying you can't, in historical context, you cannot give this guy three MVPs in four years. Basically his take was like, 'That's not going to age well.' And I'm like, 'First of all, why can't you?' and second of all, I'm very comfortable with how that'll age. The guy is 28 years old, already has a Finals MVP, is as dominant as any player that we've seen in a long, long time. He's going to be a top-10 player all time. I'm more than comfortable with how that will age.

Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid was among the top MVP candidates before going down with a meniscus injury in January, but he won't reach the new 65-game threshold to qualify for the award.

Some of the league's other top MVP candidates include Dallas Mavericks star Luka Dončić and Oklahoma City Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. But Jokić is still considered the heavy favorite to win the award as he has the Nuggets tied for first in the Western Conference with a 53-23 record.

The Serbian has also been as dominant as ever this season, averaging 26.4 points, 12.3 rebounds, 9.0 assists and 1.3 steals in 73 games while shooting 57.9 percent from the floor and 34.1 percent from deep.

Jokić won back-to-back MVPs in 2021 and 2022, and Embiid took home the award last season. If the Nuggets star brings home his third MVP, it will be very well deserved.

Nikola Jokić helped the Denver Nuggets secure a 110-105 victory over the San Antonio Spurs on Tuesday with a brilliant performance and further cemented his place in franchise history in the process.

Jokić finished with 42 points, 16 rebounds, six assists, two blocks and one steal, which propelled him ahead of Carmelo Anthony for third on the Nuggets' all-time scoring list:

Jokić moves to No. 3 on the Nuggets all-time scoring list 😤 pic.twitter.com/fv7LLftK4f

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) April 3, 2024

The big man now has 13,978 career points for Denver, which is ahead of Anthony's mark of 13,970. Only Alex English (21,645) and Dan Issel (16,589) are ahead of Jokić on the list at this point.

Anthony played the first seven-plus seasons of his career on the Nuggets until they traded him to the New York Knicks during his eighth. He averaged 24.8 points per game during his tenure in Denver, which was the highest of any of his six stops during a career that went from 2003 to 2022.

Jokić has been with the Nuggets since they selected him with a second-round pick in the 2014 NBA draft. He has averaged 20.9 points per game and won back-to-back MVP awards in 2020-21 and 2021-22.

He also led Denver to a championship last season.

While Jokić isn't known as just a scorer, he was unstoppable against Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs on Tuesday and went 18-of-32 from the field. It was quite the battle between the best big man in the league and the future star, and Wembanyama ended up with 23 points, 15 rebounds, eight assists and a stunning nine blocks.

But even all those blocks didn't stop Jokić from stuffing the stat sheet and making some franchise history.

The defending champions are back in the dance.

The Denver Nuggets became the first team in the Western Conference to clinch a playoff berth after Sunday's 130-101 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers, moving them to 52-23 on the season.

PLAYOFFS CLINCHED 🔒

The @Nuggets are the first team from the Western Conference to clinch a spot in the 2024 NBA Playoffs! pic.twitter.com/nTHnjEle5b

— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) March 31, 2024

They weren't the only Western Conference team to celebrate on Sunday, as the Oklahoma City Thunder clinched a postseason spot with a win over the New York Knicks:

PLAYOFFS CLINCHED 🔒

The @OKCThunder have clinched a spot in the 2024 NBA Playoffs! pic.twitter.com/l5lEgTVn1h

— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) April 1, 2024

The only other team to clinch a playoff berth thus far is the Boston Celtics (58-16), holders of the best record in basketball.

Here are the full NBA standings:

---

Eastern Conference

1. Boston Celtics: 58-16*

2. Milwaukee Bucks: 47-27

3. Cleveland Cavaliers: 45-30

4. New York Knicks: 44-30

5. Orlando Magic: 43-31

6. Indiana Pacers: 42-33

-----Automatic Playoff Berth Cutoff-----

7. Miami Heat: 41-33

8. Philadelphia 76ers: 40-35

9. Chicago Bulls: 36-39

10. Atlanta Hawks: 34-40

-----Play-In Tournament Cutoff-----

11. Brooklyn Nets: 29-46

12. Toronto Raptors: 23-51**

13. Charlotte Hornets: 18-56**

14. Washington Wizards: 14-61**

15. Detroit Pistons: 13-61**

---

Western Conference

1. Oklahoma City Thunder: 52-22*

2. Denver Nuggets: 52-23*

3. Minnesota Timberwolves: 51-23

4. Los Angeles Clippers: 47-27

5. Dallas Mavericks: 45-29

6. New Orleans Pelicans: 45-29

-----Automatic Playoff Berth Cutoff-----

7. Phoenix Suns: 43-31

8. Sacramento Kings: 42-31

9. Los Angeles Lakers: 42-33

10. Golden State Warriors: 40-34

-----Play-In Tournament Cutoff-----

11. Houston Rockets: 38-36

12. Utah Jazz: 29-45**

13. Memphis Grizzlies: 24-50**

14. Portland Trail Blazers: 19-55**

15. San Antonio Spurs: 18-57**

* Clinched playoff berth

**Eliminated from playoff contention.

---

In the East, the main drama is down to the battle for the last two automatic playoff berths and the fight for the No. 2 seed in the postseason. The Celtics have already clinched the top seed, and the Sixers, Bulls and Hawks seem locked in place as the final three play-in tournament sides.

But the West remains wild.

There's a three-team battle for the top overall seed. The red-hot Mavericks—winners of six straight and 10 of their past 11 games—have surged into the final automatic berth, creating a logjam of contenders for that final spot. And the Warriors are desperately trying to hold off the young Rockets for the final play-in berth.

For the Nuggets, home-court advantage would force teams to deal with Denver's altitude up to four times per series. The Nuggets are 30-8 at home this season, a mark bested only by—you guessed it—the Celtics (32-3).

Superstar center Nikola Jokić is making a strong case to win his third MVP award in the past four seasons, meanwhile, averaging 26.1 points, 12.2 rebounds and 8.9 assists per game while shooting 57.9 percent from the field.

Joker tallied his 23rd triple-double of the year in the @nuggets win over the Cavaliers 🔥🃏

26 PTS / 18 REB / 16 AST

Jokic now has three games this year with 25+ PTS, 15+ REB, and 15+ AST and six for his career. pic.twitter.com/2VLSgJFAJo

— NBA (@NBA) March 31, 2024

Don't sleep on Mavericks superstar Luka Dončić, OKC's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander or Milwaukee's Giannis Antetokounmpo in that chase, however. Add it to the number of intriguing races around the NBA as the regular season winds to a close.

Denver Nuggets forward Michael Porter Jr. expressed support for his brother, Toronto Raptors forward Jontay Porter, on Wednesday night amid an NBA investigation into betting irregularities involving Jontay Porter prop bets.

Speaking to reporters Wednesday, Michael Porter Jr. downplayed the likelihood of his brother being involved with the betting scandal in any way.

"I've known my brother my whole life," he said. "I know what type of dude he is and I know he's excited to play basketball and I highly doubt he would do anything to put that in jeopardy."

Michael Porter Jr. on the NBA investigation involving his brother, Jontay Porter: pic.twitter.com/PxOmoMjtNe

— Rachel Strand (@MileHighRachel) March 28, 2024

Per ESPN's David Purdum, Brian Windhorst and Adrian Wojnarowski, the NBA launched an investigation this week into the circumstances surrounding increased action on Jontay Porter prop bets for the Jan. 26 game against the Los Angeles Clippers and the March 20 game against the Sacramento Kings.

For both games, there was "increased betting interest" on the under props, and the unders hit each time.

Jontay Porter left the Jan. 26 game after playing just four minutes due to aggravation of an eye injury he suffered four days earlier agains the Memphis Grizzlies.

He also left the March 20 game after playing just three minutes due to an illness.

DraftKings Sportsbook announced that prop bets involving Porter were the "No. 1 moneymaker" in terms of NBA bets on the night of March 20.

Michael Porter Jr., who was the No. 14 overall pick by the Nuggets in the 2018 NBA draft and won a championship with the team last season, gave his thoughts on legalized betting and how it has impacted players:

"Yeah, especially the last few years you hear people in the crowd saying what they need you to score tonight or what they don't want you to score. Every night you're disappointing someone. You're disappointing people if you score too much because they may have bet on the under, and you're disappointing people if you didn't score enough.

"So, it's a part of the game now. I think that it's obviously a dangerous habit. It's a dangerous vice for people. You know, the love of money is the root of all evil. So, I think that even though it is a thing, we as players just have to accept that. We get paid a lot of money to play this game and I know these people, these fans, they want to make some money, as well.

"It's definitely something that has kind of taken over the sporting world—I don't know if it's a good thing or a bad thing."

"We as players just have to accept that."

Porter Jr. was asked if it is hard to not get involved when there is so much advertising regarding sports betting and gambling. pic.twitter.com/OPhgfuFhVB

— Rachel Strand (@MileHighRachel) March 28, 2024

While Michael Porter Jr. is a starter for the Nuggets and is playing under a five-year, $172.55 million contract, Jontay is more of a journeyman.

The 24-year-old played in 11 games for the Memphis Grizzlies during the 2020-21 season, and after spending time in the G League over the next few seasons, he finally got another NBA opportunity this year with the Raptors on a two-way contract.

In 26 games this season, including five starts, he is averaging 4.4 points, 3.2 rebounds and 2.3 assists in 13.8 minutes per contest.

With the investigation into Jontay ongoing, he has sat out the Raptors' past three games due to personal reasons.