Michael Porter Jr. makes emphatic lineup return to fuel Nets dismantling of lowly Pelicans

The Nets have won the third straight game that Michael Porter Jr.has started.There may be an inflection point coming sooner rather than later.Granted, this last one came 119-101 against the pitiful Pelicans before 17,055 at Barclays Center.New Orleans is so terrible they’re not even tanking and still out-tanked the Nets, who improved to 6-17 and look respectable with Porter in the lineup.The Nets strategically rested Porter in Thursday’s matchup of lottery hopefuls — injury management for his lower back — and Brooklyn collapsed offensively in the fourth quarter.

It was a calculated result that moved them up into fourth in the lottery odds.But it also showed Porter’s impact.Saturday underscored it, as he outscored the Pelicans.Porter poured in a game-high 35 points on 14-of-23 shooting, including 5-of-10 from 3-point range.

It tied a career-long string of three straight 30-point outings.It’s no coincidence that the Nets won all of those games, and they are now 6-7 in his last 13 appearances since Cam Thomas went down.Porter came into the night in the 79th percentile in on-off impact, per Cleaning The Glass.Offensively the boost was even greater, in the 91st percentile.

And his budding chemistry with Nic Claxton has helped the center blossom into a legitimate offensive hub, cutting up opposing defenses with dribble handoffs.Claxton had his second career triple-double with a game-high 10 assists to go with 14 points, 10 rebounds, three blocks and a plus-24 to dominate Pelicans rookie Derik Queen, for whom they gave away next year’s likely lottery pick.Sign up for Inside the Nets by Brian Lewis, exclusively on Sports+.

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Enjoy this Post Sports+ exclusive newsletter! The Nets led by 28 in shooting .528 overall and 14-of-35 from deep.Meanwhile, Nets rookie Egor Dëmin (eight points, seven assists, four boards) ...