Chara uncertain for Timbers playoff match

“We’ll make (lineup) decisions based on (the) opponent, game plan, ourselves, best XI, all of that,” Porter said.

Chara’s health could dictate which way Porter goes with his formation on Thursday. If the Colombian is fit, perhaps the coach goes back to using him as a lone holding midfielder — a formation that saw Diego Valeri and Darlington Nagbe paired as attacking central midfielders during key road wins at Real Salt Lake and at Los Angeles. If Chara is not available, perhaps Jack Jewsbury and George Fochive man the defensive midfield. That would likely mean Valeri — who was suspended for Sunday’s match — replaces either Lucas Melano or Rodney Wallace among the starting attackers.

That Sporting Kansas City is the Thursday opponent makes for some interesting story lines. SKC was inconsistent down the stretch, losing six of its final 12 league matches. But in two late-season visits to Portland, Sporting earned a scoreless draw and a 1-0 win.

In fact, only one goal was scored in the three regular-season matches between the clubs: Krisztian Nemeth’s run through the defense on Oct. 3 at Providence Park. So the Timbers went three matches against Kansas City without scoring — in part because goalkeeper Tim Melia made 13 saves in two visits to Portland.

“They’ve had success playing against us by being conservative, by being organized and by not letting us break them down,” Porter said of SKC. “And yet we’ve created a lot of chances against this team, we just didn’t finish.”

Portland’s scoring form changed dramatically the last two games, with nine goals. The three-game winning streak to finish the regular season meant that only conference leaders F.C. Dallas and the New York Red Bulls finished with more points than the Timbers after 34 regular-season games.

Portland’s 53 points were tied with Vancouver and Columbus for third most in MLS this season, enough to get the Timbers a home match in this knockout round where the winner moves to the conference semifinal and the loser is eliminated.

“The nice thing is our guys have been in that do-or-die mindset for the last three games under massive pressure,” Porter said. “The fact that we played some of our best soccer of the year under the most pressure of the year really says a lot about the character of the group.”

Nagbe honored — After scoring twice and assisting on a third goal Sunday, Timbers midfielder Darlington Nagbe on Tuesday was named the MLS player of the week for Week 34. This is the first time the fifth-year Timber has won the league’s player of the week award. It is the second consecutive player of the week award for a Timbers player.Forward Fanendo Adi won the award for Week 33. A group of soccer journalists selects the player of the week.