It’s almost hard to fully comprehend what Michael Porter Jr. was going through in the days leading up to the Nuggets’ first-round playoff series.

One of his brothers, Johntay, was given a lifetime ban from the NBA after being involved in one of the bigger sports gambling scandals in recent memory. One of his other brothers, Coban, was sentenced to six years in prison for a fatal drunk driving incident last January while he was a member of the DU Pioneers basketball team.

Any questions about where Porter Jr.’s head was entering Game 1 against the Lakers were fair, but he answered every single one of those questions over the course of five games.

In what will go down as the best playoff series of his career to date, Porter Jr. averaged just under 23 points per game and shot just 49% from 3-point range as Denver dispatched of L.A. in five games to advance to the second round.

“It feels good,” Porter Jr. said. “At the end of the day, this is basketball. I got way bigger stuff going on off the court. To come in here with my sanctuary and be able to play well, it feels good. There’s a lot bigger stuff going on than this.”

3 & THE FOUL.MPJ brings the Nuggets within 1 on TNT 🍿🍿 pic.twitter.com/z9W6Ghvth8

— NBA (@NBA) April 30, 2024

Porter Jr. had 26 points on 8-for-12 shooting from the field and 5-for-7 from 3-point range in the series-clinching victory on Monday night.

He made a 3-pointer and drew a foul with the Nuggets down by four late in the third quarter. He also came off a Nikola Jokic screen to hit a 3-pointer at the top of the key that gave Denver a two-point lead with just over five minutes to go.

MPJ 3 FOR THE LEAD.Denver looking to close out the series on TNT 🚨 pic.twitter.com/O6jV58mg2I

— NBA (@NBA) April 30, 2024

“Mike’s been great all series,” Kentavious Caldwell-Pope said. “Timely buckets. When we need ‘em, he’s knocking ‘em down.”

It was a struggle for the Nuggets offensively on just about every possession in the series. And despite Jamal Murray’s pair of game-winning buckets, Denver’s point guard was far from his best. Caldwell-Pope also couldn’t get in a rhythm shooting the ball. Even Jokic had times where he wasn’t as efficient as he can be.

“I was just looking for my shots,” Porter said. “I was playing so many minutes I just fell into multiple 20-point games. It was nothing really different going on. I was just knocking down shots that I’ve shot my whole career.”

Even if it wasn’t intentional, every shot Porter Jr. made was huge in a series won only one game by double digits.

“It was hard to score the way they were guarding us,” coach Michael Malone said. “I mean, buckets were hard to come by. Obviously, we did a better job tonight. Michael hit some timely shots.

“We ran plays for him. He got open. What I like also is that if he didn’t have the shot, he was able to get downhill, put pressure on the rim, get to the foul line, going 5 of 6 tonight. Michael’s a guy that we rely upon for his efficiency and his scoring. He did that at a very high level for these first five games.”

Whatever Porter unlocked in this series, the Nuggets are going to need him to keep it rolling with the hungry Minnesota Timberwolves waiting in the second round.

Right now, they’re just happy to not be getting on a plane to Los Angeles.

“This team presented a lot of challenges. The Timberwolves will too,” Porter said. “We’ve got a long way to go, but definitely glad we got past the first round.”