Michael Porter Jr.’s injury is more in his hamstring than his lower back
Mar 27, 2025, 11:22 AM
Take a deep breath Nuggets fans. After his 23-point, 10 rebound performance against Milwaukee Wednesday night, Nuggets forward Michael Porter Jr. said that the low back injury that had him listed as questionable before the game was more of a hamstring injury.
“[The injury] was more hamstring. Ever since I strained my hamstring before All-Star Break, I haven’t really felt, I would say, 100% in that hamstring,” Porter said postgame. “It was just a little tight, but something I could play through.”
This is a very good sign for Porter and the Nuggets, as the hamstring isn’t something new. If the back had popped up this late in the season, it would be a very different story. Since the 6-foot-10 sharpshooter has had three surgeries on his lower back, everyone gets very nervous anytime that region of his body get brought up in injury talks.
Porter came out the gates hot on Wednesday, scoring 14 of his 23 points in the first quarter. He made all five of his field goal attempts in the opening frame and went 7-for-9 overall on the night.
Wednesday’s game was a much needed bounce-back for Porter, who hadn’t shot over 50% from the field in a game since March 10 prior to last night’s game. Since the All-Star Break, he had made at least 50% of his 3-pointers in just three of the 18 games he played in.
“Tonight, it was good to make some 3-pointers … I feel like my balance has been off a little bit ever since that hamstring,” Porter said. “I feel like I’m leaning a bit to one side, and it’s throwing me off a little bit. Today I focused on being straight up and straight down and I made a couple … Hopefully I can keep getting the hamstring better, I think that’s where some of my balance issues have come from a little bit. It was good to see a few go in tonight.”
Porter stuffed the stat sheet Wednesday with four assists and three steal to go along with his double-double. The defense is so important for Porter and the success of the team, but it’s tough for him to move laterally with his previous back troubles and his current hamstring issue.
While the Nuggets could get away with Porter having off nights in the postseason in 2023, they can’t do that this year with how the roster is constructed. They need his scoring and his rebounding in order to compete with the top teams in the league, and his performance Wednesday night showed that.
After Friday’s game against the Utah Jazz, the Nuggets will have three days to rest before Minnesota comes to town for a pivotal game, and Porter knows that he needs to take advantage of all three off days to continue resting the hamstring. For now, Wednesday’s game showed that he’s close to being back to his normal self.
