Michael Porter Jr. coming up big for the Nuggets as he plays through pain of sprained left shoulder

DENVER (AP) — Michael Porter Jr. hasn't really been able to take off his uniform by himself going on three weeks now because of a sprained left shoulder that has essentially turned him into a one-armed hoopster in these playoffs.

He can't really guide his jump-shot with his left hand ever since he sprained his left A.C. joint in a scramble for a loose ball in Round 1 against the Los Angeles Clippers on April 22.

It's hard for him to corral rebounds with both hands and he sometimes winces when passes drift to his left side.

Not only that, but on the night he got hurt he revealed that the brace on his left foot was broken and that he'd had a hard time finding a replacement that fits properly. The brace helps him play through a condition called “dropped foot,” that resulted from his multiple back surgeries earlier in his career.

Yet, there he was picking up the slack on Nikola Jokic's off-night in Denver's 113-104 Game 3 overtime win Friday night over the top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder.

“Even though playing through it makes it heal slower, they know it’s not something that’s dangerous to play with, per se,” Porter said. “So, they’re trusting me to go out there and space the floor, make it easier on other guys if I can and then I’ve just got to contribute on the glass and defensively as best I can and be ready to knock down open shots.”

With his left shoulder heavily bandaged and pumped full of Lidocaine, Porter did all of that and more Friday night.

He scored 21 points on 7-of-10 shooting that included a 5-of-6 clip from deep and he pulled down eight rebounds, seven on the defensive glass, to counter OKC's swarming defense and offensive prowess.

“When they shoot the ball it feels like the whole world is in the paint,” Nuggets interim coach David Adelman said. “And you just have to win those and sometimes the ball gets tipped and you’ve got to play through the elbows and win the 50-50 knockout defensive rebounds because that leads to controlling the pace and getting our guys in a two-man game late.”

With Porter contributing at both ends of the floor, the Nuggets hung with the Thunder until Aaron Gordon's late 3 sent it to overtime, where Denver outscored Oklahoma City 9-2.

Porter had expressed frustration after being held to 10 points total in Games 1 and 2 in Oklahoma City, where he shot a combined 3 for 18.

He at least felt a little more like himself Friday night.

“It's been tough, playoffs and I'm wanting to play at a high level,” Porter said.

Doctors told him sprained AC joints take four to six weeks to heal up enough for him to return to action. He said no way even knowing that he'd face severe limitations that would cut into his productivity and even playing time.

“Suiting up I knew there would be games where I couldn't produce like I wanted to or maybe I didn't play as much as I wanted to," Porter said. "But this is the playoffs and I wanted to go out there and at least try.

"It's been an up-and-down playoffs for me, but that's OK because we're in a good position as a team."

The Nuggets can take a 3-1 lead with a win Sunday afternoon at Ball Arena.

“When he first got hurt, it was like, damn, he's going to play through that? It's kind of crazy,” teammate Jamal Murray said. “People don't understand what he's played through and how much he's played through his whole career. It's just a testament to his resilience and his love for the game and his will to win.”

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Oklahoma City Thunder forward Jalen Williams, right, drives to the basket as Denver Nuggets forward Michael Porter Jr. defends in the second half of Game 3 in the Western Conference semifinals of the NBA basketball playoffs Friday, May 9, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Denver Nuggets forward Michael Porter Jr., left, hits a 3-point basket as Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander defends in overtime of Game 3 in the Western Conference semifinals of the NBA basketball playoffs Friday, May 9, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Denver Nuggets forward Michael Porter Jr., right, shoots past Oklahoma City Thunder forward Chet Holmgren, left, in the first half of Game 3 in the Western Conference semifinals of the NBA basketball playoffs Friday, May 9, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Oklahoma City Thunder center Isaiah Hartenstein, left, fights for control of a loose ball with Denver Nuggets forward Michael Porter Jr. in the second half of Game 3 in the Western Conference semifinals of the NBA basketball playoffs Friday, May 9, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Denver Nuggets forward Michael Porter Jr. reacts after hitting a 3-point basket against the Oklahoma City Thunder in overtime of Game 3 in the Western Conference semifinals of the NBA basketball playoffs Friday, May 9, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Sluggish December hiring concluded a year of weak employment gains that have frustrated job seekers even though layoffs and unemployment have remained low.

Employers added just 50,000 jobs last month, nearly unchanged from a downwardly revised figure of 56,000 in November, the Labor Department said Friday. The unemployment rate slipped to 4.4%, its first decline since June, from 4.5% in November, a figure also revised lower.

The data suggests that businesses are reluctant to add workers even as economic growth has picked up. Many companies hired aggressively after the pandemic and no longer need to fill more jobs. Others have held back due to widespread uncertainty caused by President Donald Trump’s shifting tariff policies, elevated inflation, and the spread of artificial intelligence, which could alter or even replace some jobs.

Still, economists were encouraged by the drop in the unemployment rate, which had risen in the previous four straight reports. It had also alarmed officials at the Federal Reserve, prompting three cuts to the central bank's key interest rate last year. The decline lowered the odds of another rate reduction in January, economists said.

“The labor market looks to have stabilized, but at a slower pace of employment growth,” Blerina Uruci, chief economist at T. Rowe Price, said. There is no urgency for the Fed to cut rates further, for now."

Some Federal Reserve officials are concerned that inflation remains above their target of 2% annual growth, and hasn't improved since 2024. They support keeping rates where they are to combat inflation. Others, however, are more worried that hiring has nearly ground to a halt and have supported lowering borrowing costs to spur spending and growth.

November's job gain was revised slightly lower, from 64,000 to 56,000, while October's now shows a much steeper drop, with a loss of 173,000 positions, down from previous estimates of a 105,000 decline. The government revises the jobs figures as it receives more survey responses from businesses.

The economy has now lost an average of 22,000 jobs a month in the past three months, the government said. A year ago, in December 2024, it had gained 209,000 a month. Most of those losses reflect the purge of government workers by Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency.

Nearly all the jobs added in December were in the health care and restaurant and hotel industries. Health care added 38,500 jobs, while restaurants and hotels gained 47,000. Governments — mostly at the state and local level — added 13,000.

Manufacturing, construction and retail companies all shed jobs. Retailers cut 25,000 positions, a sign that holiday hiring has been weaker than previous years. Manufacturers have shed jobs every month since April, when Trump announced sweeping tariffs intended to boost manufacturing.

Wall Street and Washington are looking closely at Friday's report as it's the first clean reading on the labor market in three months. The government didn’t issue a report in October because of the six-week government shutdown, and November’s data was distorted by the closure, which lasted until Nov. 12.

The hiring slowdown reflects more than just a reluctance by companies to add jobs. With an aging population and a sharp drop in immigration, the economy doesn't need to create as many jobs as it has in the past to keep the unemployment rate steady. As a result, a gain of 50,000 jobs is not as clear a sign of weakness as it would have been in previous years.

And layoffs are still low, a sign firms aren't rapidly cutting jobs, as typically happens in a recession. The “low-hire, low-fire” job market does mean current workers have some job security, though those without jobs can have a tougher time.

Ernesto Castro, 44, has applied for hundreds of jobs since leaving his last in May. Yet the Los Angeles resident has gotten just three initial interviews, and only one follow-up, after which he heard nothing.

With nearly a decade of experience providing customer support for software companies, Castro expected to find a new job pretty quickly as he did in 2024.

“I should be in a good position,” Castro said. “It’s been awful.”

He worries that more companies are turning to artificial intelligence to help clients learn to use new software. He hears ads from tech companies that urge companies to slash workers that provide the kind of services he has in his previous jobs. His contacts in the industry say that employees are increasingly reluctant to switch jobs amid all the uncertainty, which leaves fewer open jobs for others.

He is now looking into starting his own software company, and is also exploring project management roles.

December’s report caps a year of sluggish hiring, particularly after April's “liberation day” tariff announcement by Trump. The economy generated an average of 111,000 jobs a month in the first three months of 2025. But that pace dropped to just 11,000 in the three months ended in August, before rebounding slightly to 22,000 in November.

Last year, the economy gained just 584,000 jobs, sharply lower than that more than 2 million added in 2024. It's the smallest annual gain since the COVID-19 pandemic decimated the job market in 2020.

Subdued hiring underscores a key conundrum surrounding the economy as it enters 2026: Growth has picked up to healthy levels, yet hiring has weakened noticeably and the unemployment rate has increased in the last four jobs reports.

Most economists expect hiring will accelerate this year as growth remains solid, and Trump's tax cut legislation is expected to produce large tax refunds this spring. Yet economists acknowledge there are other possibilities: Weak job gains could drag down future growth. Or the economy could keep expanding at a healthy clip, while automation and the spread of artificial intelligence reduces the need for more jobs.

Productivity, or output per hour worked, a measure of worker efficiency, has improved in the past three years and jumped nearly 5% in the July-September quarter. That means companies can produce more without adding jobs. Over time, it should also boost worker pay.

Even with such sluggish job gains, the economy has continued to expand, with growth reaching a 4.3% annual rate in last year's July-September quarter, the best in two years. Strong consumer spending helped drive the gain. The Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta forecasts that growth could slow to a still-solid 2.7% in the final three months of last year.

FILE - A hiring sign is displayed at a grocery store in Northbrook, Ill., Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)