The Trail Blazers have received a much-needed boost from swingman Nassir Little, who helped the team secure a 105-90 victory over the Lakers on Saturday, Spencer Davies of BasketballNews.com writes.
Little finished with eight points, five rebounds and two blocks in 15 minutes of action off the bench. His strong effort helped lift Portland back to a .500 record (5-5).
“Energy. I think that’s it,” teammate Larry Nance Jr. said of what comes to mind when he thinks of Little. “Nas comes in and plays with so much energy. Obviously, Ant (Anfernee Simons) plays with a lot of energy. Cody (Zeller) getting after every ball and myself, that’s a lot of what I’ve prided myself on for the past few years.
“I think playing with a certain level of intensity. I think we’ve got some rangy defenders as well. So that group is looking to provide a spark every time we check-in and so far, we’re doing a pretty good job of it.”
Here are some other notes out of the Northwest Division tonight:
- The Thunder have recalled Vit Krejci, Tre Mann and Isaiah Roby from their G League affiliate, the team announced in a release. Oklahoma City has upcoming games against the Spurs on Sunday, Pelicans on Wednesday and Kings on Friday.
- Nuggets forward Michael Porter Jr. will undergo further testing on his lower back, Harrison Wind of DNVR Sports tweets. Porter exited the team’s game against Houston on Saturday with soreness and will miss Monday’s contest against Miami. Back issues sidelined Porter for his entire rookie season in 2018/19.
- Speaking of Porter, Mark Kiszla of the Denver Post believes the Nuggets should remove him from the starting lineup and relegate him to a bench role. The 23-year-old is shooting just 36% through nine games, averaging 9.9 points per contest.
never would of thought that mpj’s injury history would catch badback up with him.
Well…. the Porter Jr extension hasn’t aged well. Obviously plenty of time. Benching him won’t help. He’s a shooter. Needs to keep shooting. However, majority of his shots come from 16ft away from the basket. Maybe post him up more and let him see the ball go in. Then he can move inside out. But of course… having a healthy back is paramount to anything else.
“the Porter Jr extension hasn’t aged well. Obviously plenty of time…”
Thanks man. Well said. Please tell me more
I totally agree. Kind of perplexing how he goes from 44.5% threes last year to 20% this year. I am the biggest anti politics in sports but when your 23 and get a huge contract and can’t do anything with the team like going out to eat when on the road and many other things he can’t be part of team cause of vaccine. I believe that has to weigh quite a bit on his phsycy. Just saying.
Yeah I think starting Gordon and either one of the Greens or Dozier at the forward spots might help bench production.
Let MPJ be the focal point of the second unit’s attack. He seems displeased with his role… (Facial expression/body language)
I agree with Bench for MPJ but maybe his back has been sore for a few games and he didn’t want to say anything.? If any trouble was found on MRI yesterday we would already know. And I take exception to The comments by Kisla. He made every one of his comments as negative as possible. He should be writing look in the mirror I’m perfect comments. Wish MPJ well !! And has everyone forgot he was ranked 6th in the entire NBA in PER last year. That’s player efficiency rating for those who don’t know. And at 23 it’s hard to make RASH judgement on MPJ in just 8 games. Let’s just start by praying his back is just what it is, sore. Christ, this Kisla guy calls him a basket case. No pun intended. That ain’t right. Go Nuggets!!
Kiszla is one of the absolute worst columnists here in Denver and maybe even the whole country. Just consistently hateful, awful takes time after time under the guise of “I’m just starting a conversation.”
I totally agree. Kind of perplexing how he goes from 44.5% threes last year to 20% this year. I am the biggest anti politics in sports but when your 23 and get a huge contract and can’t do anything with the team like going out to eat when on the road and many other things he can’t be part of team cause of vaccine. I believe that has to weigh quite a bit on his phsycy. Just saying.
Backs are no joke. It’s something that’s taken down plenty of careers. You gotta think Nuggets know what they are doing with him. Fans are always quick to judge without knowing real facts. Hope he’s ok.
KnickerbockerAl is right. Backs are … well .. they’re finicky. Put your back out reaching for a glass of water, then 2 months later buck baled hay all day with no bad effects. Finicky I tell ya.
Nuggets have known of his back condition since drafting him, and still elected to give him early extension at a max level. Maybe it’s addressed somewhere in the deal. Either way, the slow start statistically shouldn’t be a concern beyond his physical condition (perhaps being a factor in it).