Nets' Star Reflects on First Return to Denver

Michael Porter Jr. made his first return to his first NBA home on Thursday, putting up a season-high 38 points on 13-of-28 shooting while grabbing 10 rebounds in the Brooklyn Nets' 107-103 loss to the Denver Nuggets.

The Missouri product has been playing at an All-Star level since coming over to Brooklyn, though he feels the Nuggets benefited from the trade in their own right.

"I would say it's a very unique situation where I think both organizations and both teams kind of benefited from the trade," Porter said. "I don't look back at it with any saltiness toward the organization or anything. I think they got a lot out of trading me. They got not only Cam, but Valanciunas, Bruce, Tim Hardaway, who's playing amazing."

"I think it's cool. And I still keep up with them. They've been able to stay afloat when Joker's out, AG's out, CB's out. And I don't know with our roster last year, if some of those guys went down, if it would have been the same. So it probably is one of those unique trades where it kind of worked out for everybody."

Michael Porter Jr. talks about returning to Denver and scoring a season-high 38 points against his old team. #NETSonYES pic.twitter.com/pdjJbBRUqE
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Porter admitted he came into the game with a little bit of an edge, as the Nets quickly flipped the script in the second half after going down by as many as 19 points in the first half.

"Just try to come out with energy," Porter said. "Punch them in the mouth and make them call the first timeout, which we did. We played with good energy. We fought; we had some guys out. It was a pretty good effort. [We] came all the way back and took the lead. I gotta help finish that out with a couple of makes that I missed tonight.

“There was a little motivation. We should’ve pulled it out, though. I felt like I missed a couple shots I should’ve made down the stretch."

Porter came two points shy of hitting the 40-point mark for the first time in his career, but seemed to be more bothered that the Nets didn't sweep the season series against the Nuggets.

However, Porter recognized the love he received from the fans, which included a tribute video from the team he helped win a championship in 2023.

"I'll probably rewatch the video on Instagram," Porter said. "It's just cool. The memories I had here and the fans recognizing that."