Nets' Michael Porter Jr. ready to play Sunday against former Nuggets

NEW YORK -- Brooklyn Nets forward Michael Porter Jr. has missed the past two games for the Nets due to an illness, potentially causing him to miss a chance to face his former team in the Denver Nuggets. However, Brooklyn announced prior to Sunday's game against the Nuggets that Porter is available and is likely excited to face some of his former teammates.

"He’s feeling great. He did a lot of work yesterday to make sure that he was ready to go. He hasn’t felt great the last few days, but he feels much better," Nets head coach Jordi Fernandez prior to Sunday's matchup against Denver. With Porter out of the lineup for the past two games, Brooklyn has had trouble running their offense as they've put up just 97.5 points per game. However, the offense should improve with Porter back in the rotation.

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"No restrictions or anything because he has had a lot of conditioning and so forth," Fernandez continued on Porter. "If he has a little bit of discomfort still, maybe he'll just fight through it. That's just who Mike is. He's had discomforts and things that he had to deal with, and he's always performed. We're ready, we're excited to have him back."

Porter, 27, is having the best season of his career as he is averaging 25.8 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 3.3 assists per game while shooting 49.6% from the field and 41.0% from three-point land in 26 games played. Not only is Porter playing as well as he's ever played during his time in the NBA, but Fernandez acknowledges the possibility that Porter could be more motivated to play his former team due to the circumstances that caused him to be traded to Brooklyn this past offseason.

"I think that is more of a question for him. But, if I would be in his shoes, I would be very excited to play this game," Fernandez said when asked if Porter is more motivated to face Denver because of the trade. "I have no doubt in my mind that he's going to go out there and perform on both ends. It's an exciting day for all of us, especially for him."

This article originally appeared on Nets Wire: Nets' Michael Porter Jr. ready to play Sunday against former Nuggets