Michael Porter Jr. reveals what critics don’t understand about his 18.2% 3-point drop

The Brooklyn Nets no way when Michael Porter Jr. not on his A game. Porter’s poor play over the past month has illustrated his importance to his team’s ability to compete.

The 6-foot-10 sharpshooter has been among the NBA’s most efficient scorers through the first half of the season, averaging 25.6 points on 48/40/85 shooting in his first 38 appearances. However, he cooled significantly after the All-Star tumblingaveraged 19.0 points on 40.5 percent shooting from the field and 18.2 percent (10-of-55) from three in his last seven appearances.

The Nets are 1-6 during that period, and opponents outscored them by 89 points.

“My shooting hasn’t been this bad in as long as I can remember,” Porter said after going 2-of-6 from three in Tuesday’s 123-114 loss to the Dallas Mavericks. “The last four or five games, I feel like I just fell off. But that’s what happens when you’re out of rhythm and you don’t play for a while. People who aren’t basketball don’t understand that you can really lose your timing and your touch in two or three days of not playing. So you don’t play (the last two games in the offseason, I mean you don’t play much in the offseason) too- I’m paying the price for that.”

Michael Porter Jr. said he felt out of rhythm after missing games before the All-Star break and not hitting the gym during his time off:

“My hitting hasn’t been this bad in as long as I can remember. The last four or five games, I feel like I just went down. But that’s what… pic.twitter.com/vkAVri3I11

— Eric Slater (@erikslater_) February 25, 2026

While Porter pointed to his extended layoff as the reason for his shooting regression, he also struggled during the final two games before the All-Star break. The former Denver Nuggets star totaled 30 points on 2-of-16 shooting from three in a pair of losses to the Los Angeles Lakers and Orlando Magic.

Michael Porter Jr. hits the three-point wall in the Nets’ losing streak

Porter’s elite shooting during the first half of the season was particularly impressive given the difficulty of his diet for the bullet. Through his first 38 games, the 27-year-old led the NBA with 205 made (2-4 feet space) three-point attempts, 53 more than James Harden (152) for second and 108 more than Duncan Robinson (97) for third. He converted 36.1 percent of those attempts.

However, Porter has shot just 3-of-24 (12.5 percent) on three-pointers over the past seven games. He also shot 4-of-23 (17.4%) on open 3-pointers (4-6 feet of space) and 2-of-7 on wide-open 3-pointers (6+ feet of space) during that span.

While such a regression is not entirely surprising, it has handicapped the Nets, whose primary creators alongside Porter are newcomers Nolan Traore and Egor Demin. Brooklyn has posted the NBA’s worst offensive rating (105.0) over its last nine games.

“I don’t think teams do anything different. Every time he shoots the ball, I think it goes in,” Jordi Fernandez said of Porter’s struggles. “The last couple of games, he’s done a great job finishing cuts and putting pressure on the rim. He didn’t see the ball going in that much, but he was letting it fly and the shots were going to go in. . . . Obviously, (opposing teams) put their best defender on him and sometimes multiple guys, but they were doing it to be able to keep the ball early and he was able to score. the game when he sees bodies in front of him, it doesn’t worry me at all.

Porter’s drop in scoring could indirectly benefit Brooklyn.

After five straight losses, the Nets moved into third place in the lottery standings. They are tied in the win column and two back in the loss column of the Indiana Pacers, who are in second place. If the season ended today, Brooklyn, Indiana and the Sacramento Kings would have the best odds to finish first (14.0 percent) or finish in the top four (52.1 percent).

While draft position will be the main story surrounding the Nets the rest of the way, Porter said the team he still has a lot to play for.

“This is a new situation I’ve been in, but no basketball game is meaningless. It’s all part of the journey,” he said. “This team, we’re not just looking at this year, we’re looking at the overall scheme and goals for the next year, two, three, four, five years. All these games are important to us in terms of growth, continuity and chemistry. Sometimes it’s hard to focus on that, but we have to come in and work every day and understand that it’s the bigger picture. At the end of the day, we love to play the game.