Almost from the moment Nets forward Michael Porter got salary dumped by Denver, he had Thursday’s mile high return circled on his calendar.
In Porter’s first game back, he was spectacular. But not victorious.
Brooklyn fell 107-103 to the Nuggets at Ball Arena, wasting a huge effort from Porter and a big third-quarter rally to earn a late lead.
Porter had 38 points — one shy of his career-high — on 7-for-14 from deep, with 10 rebounds and two steals.
But after the Nets had rallied from a 19-point deficit to take a 94-92 lead, they coughed up an 8-0 Nuggets run and never recovered.
“There was a little motivation,” Porter said. “We should’ve pulled it out, though. I felt like I missed a couple shots I should’ve made down the stretch.”
It was only because of Porter’s big night that the Nets (12-34) were in it down the stretch.
Jamal Murray (27 points) hit two free throws to put Brooklyn in a 62-43 hole against a Nuggets team playing sans Nikola Jokic and Aaron Gordon.
It was still 64-46 with 33.9 seconds left in the first half before the Nets got back into the game with a 24-6 run that spanned into the third quarter.
Porter’s 3 knotted it at 73-all.
Down just 77-76, a sloppy Ben Saraf turnover sparked a 6-0 Nuggets run that left Brooklyn in a seven-point hole.
Porter led another Nets comeback, his steal and layup tying it at 90-all with 5:56 left.
Terance Mann’s strong downhill drive gave them a 94-92 lead.
But Brooklyn couldn’t hold it, conceding an 8-0 blitz. Murray had five points in the run, his and-one leaving the Nets in a 100-94 hole with 1:48 to play.
The Nets didn’t have another rally in them.
“We just tried to come out with energy, punch them in the mouth and make them call the first timeout, which we did,” Porter said. “We had some guys out of the lineup, and everybody fought. … We came all the way back, took the lead, [but] I have to help finish that out with a couple makes that I missed.”
Porter was just 1-for-5 from deep in the fourth quarter.
With Egor Dëmin, Noah Clowney, Ziaire Williams and Cam Thomas out, no other Net topped Mann’s 12 points. Nic Claxton had 10 points, eight boards and seven assists.
Brooklyn dropped its seventh straight and moved into a tie with Washington for fourth in the lottery odds, a game behind Indiana.
They’re two ahead of Utah, where they play on Friday in the tail end of this high-altitude back-to-back.
