Michael Porter Jr. scored above his season average in the Nets’ 106-95 loss to the Miami Heat on Thursday at Barclays Center, though his 10-for-20 shooting and 5-for-14 mark from deep reflected a night where Brooklyn couldn’t find much offensive rhythm.
Porter wasn’t alone in the struggle. Noah Clowney finished 2-for-13, Egor Demin went 5-for-18 and Tyrese Martin shot 1-for-8 off the bench. The Nets shot just 38.8% overall, including 11-for-49 from 3-point range, and Miami capitalized on Brooklyn’s 13 turnovers, converting them into 18 points.
Miami’s 111.2 defensive rating ranks third in the NBA, trailing only Detroit and Oklahoma City. Still, Porter joked that his struggles had less to do with the Heat’s defense and more to do with a reckless weight-room session.
“I think I lifted too much before the game,” Porter said. “I think I lifted upper body too much yesterday, so my shot was a little flat or a little short on a lot of them. Yeah, I was in the weight room too much.”
The veteran forward still gave Miami credit, acknowledging the Heat’s commitment to taking him out of the game.
“That’s a good defense. They’ve been a good defense for years,” Porter said. “[Bam Adebayo] is a Defensive Player of the Year candidate a lot of years. And then Davion Mitchell, I mean, he’s one of the best on-ball defenders I’ve probably seen, and then the other guys are pretty good as well. Andrew Wiggins was glued to me. Norman Powell can guard. I still feel like we could’ve made more shots. I for sure could’ve played better.”
It’s been difficult for the Nets to win when Porter shoots 42% or worse from the field, but after Thursday’s loss, head coach Jordi Fernández wasn’t willing to pin the outcome on one player. The 27-year-old has delivered All-Star-level production for most of the season, and off nights are part of that territory.
The challenge for Brooklyn is learning how to better absorb those nights when they come.
“I think they’re the number four defensive rating in the NBA,” Fernández said. “So not just good, they’re a very good defense with physical defenders. So that’s number one and then number two is… Too much dancing and not finishing cuts and not cutting through the rim and out. Like, we just got in a wrestling match, and it was a physical game, and we could have been better with our off-ball execution. I thought we had good looks, like, I thought Mike got good looks. I thought Noah got good looks, I thought Egor got good looks.
“And we could have made a few more, but I’m not worried. I have to watch it again and see it, but I like the shots, I’m okay with it. I was not okay all the way through with the execution… We didn’t do a good enough job setting screens off the ball and then what we did with those cuts and mixing it up. We’ll watch it, I’ll help them out. We’re going to have good teams coming, or we’re going to see good teams with good defenses, so that’s a good thing for us.”
