MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The Nets had to play without their leading scorer Saturday, as Michael Porter Jr. sat on the bench in street clothes.
He watched his team take a 129-110 beating in Memphis at FedExForum.
Porter wasn’t injured but was a healthy scratch for personal reasons.
Two sources — one a team source and another close to the player — said the issue was believed to be resolved and Porter shouldn’t miss extended time.
When asked if he had a timeline for Porter’s return, Nets coach Jordi Fernández said, “No. We want to give him his privacy. Everything is fine, so we’re happy that he was here.”
Initially listed as questionable, Porter was ruled out an hour before tipoff.
“A personal situation came up as we were coming to the arena. So that’s why it was announced late,” Fernández said.
Porter is averaging a team-high 21.5 points on 45.6 percent shooting and 37.5 percent from deep. An Eastern Conference scout who spoke with The Post pointed out how easy the Nets are to defend without his unblockable shot. Julius Randle — Brooklyn’s other proven veteran scorer — said others simply have to pick up the slack.
“Everybody has to step in and chip in. It’s not just one person,” Randle said. “So we’ve all got to step up and chip in and do it collectively as a unit.”
Day’Ron Sharpe (16 points, 11 rebounds, five assists) had his third double-double of the season already. His career high is six in 2023-24.
Fernández handed Noah Clowney the start at small forward for Porter. With Randle, Sharpe, Egor Dëmin and Danny Wolf, every Nets starter was at least 6-foot-9 or taller, just as they had been in the blowout win in New Orleans three nights earlier.
This was the first time any NBA team had started a lineup of players all 6-foot-9 or taller since the Los Angeles Lakers had done so April 21, 1990.
Mikel Brown Jr. and Nolan Traore both returned after having missed the blowout win in New Orleans three nights earlier. It marked just the third game that the Nets have had Dëmin, Brown and Traore together.
Fernández said Brown is still on his minutes limit. With Wolf still starting at two-guard, Brown and Traore logged just 19 minutes each.
The Nets got thrown into travel chaos Friday by the Federal Aviation Administration’s decision to ground every flight nationwide for four hours. They were already set to board their flight but had to stay overnight in New Orleans and fly to Memphis at 9 a.m.
“Yeah, obviously it was something that we couldn’t control,” Fernández said. “And to be honest with you, it was not that bad. We had good rest and got here [Saturday] morning and did our walk-through, and probably [would have] gone to the gym, but we were not able to. And I think we feel good and ready to go.”
