Nuggets’ MPJ had been playing with back pain whole season, says Austin Rivers

Of all the injuries that have wreaked havoc on Denver’s early-season rotations, none has drawn as much concern as Michael Porter Jr.’s back, which has kept him out for the last five games.

According to Austin Rivers, one of Porter’s confidantes, the star forward had been playing through back pain the entire season.

“He’s 23 years old,” Rivers said following Monday night’s loss to Dallas. “He’s just gotta take care of himself and get himself right physically and that way mentally he can come to the court playing the way that we know he can play. He’s playing hurt this whole season. It’s hard to do that. Hopefully he comes back soon because he’s a huge part of our team.”

Porter initially tweaked his back early in the Nuggets’ win over Houston on Nov. 6th. He stayed in the game for several more minutes before exiting and never returning. Since then, he’s been getting daily treatment although updates from team officials have been vague. Through the first nine games of the season, Porter was shooting just 36% from the field and only 21% from 3-point range.

A balky back would help explain why Porter’s shooting struggles were so pronounced early this season.

“No one really knows what’s going on with that,” Rivers said. “We just know his back has had some minor setbacks.”

It was only a few months ago, on Sept. 27th, when the Nuggets agreed to a five-year, max extension with Porter despite a history of serious back injuries.

Rivers has been one of Porter’s staunchest advocates on the team. He’s preached patience to him, almost on a daily basis. Even throughout his latest setback, Rivers has remained firmly in his corner.

“He wants to play well really badly, obviously just because he loves the game, first and foremost,” Rivers said. “Forget his contract, and forget all that for one second. This dude, whether he got paid $200 million or $2 million would approach it the same way. It’s what I love about him. I have no doubt in my mind he’ll be back just considering how much he cares about his respect and how much he cares about his validation. It’s just who Mike is as a whole.”

Porter is hardly the only Nugget battling injuries so early in the season.

Will Barton missed his second consecutive game Monday night also due to back pain. His back appeared to seize up during warmups on Sunday night. Zeke Nnaji missed the loss to Dallas while dealing with a sprained ankle, and Bones Hyland rolled his left ankle during the game.

Nuggets coach Michael Malone wasn’t particularly concerned about any of those, save for Porter who he’s deemed out for the “forseeable future.”

And if that wasn’t daunting enough, Malone said point guard Monte Morris has been playing through injury concerns of his own. Morris was on the team’s injury report prior to this week’s win over Indiana with left patellar tendinopathy.

Malone said he’s been trying to rest Morris on off days and he’s been getting treatment around the clock. Still, Morris was one of the bright spots in their streak-snapping loss to the Mavericks. He finished with 17 points on 8-of-13 shooting with eight assists.

Bol sighting: The injuries, particularly to Nnaji and Porter, created an opening for little-used Bol Bol, who took advantage of his minutes Monday night. He finished the game with seven points, two rebounds and a block. His scoring led the bench unit in 11 minutes.

Frustrated by the loss in general, Malone wasn’t in the mood to expand on Bol’s positives, even though there were some.

“He should be ready,” Malone said. “Yeah, am I pleased? Of course. But you’re a professional athlete, all of our guys should be ready.”

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