MILWAUKEE — Even with uncertainty lingering around the team following Giannis Antetokounmpo’s injury from Tuesday, Milwaukee Bucks forward Bobby Portis spoke with confidence when asked about how the team responded without their star player in Tuesday’s 104-91 win over the Boston Celtics.
“Man, that’s just been us all year,” Portis said. “You look at the makeup of our team, man, we are really resilient in the things that we do. All season long, guys have been in and out of the lineups, we’ve had to adjust.
“We’ve been through it all this year. Been through a lot of adversity — coaching lineups, lineup changes — you name it, we’ve been through it. So, we’re a battle-tested team, especially over the years, so once a guy goes down, it’s next-man-up mentality. Part of our culture here that Giannis and Khris (Middleton) have helped build and other guys follow suit.”
On Wednesday, the resiliency and confidence Portis spoke of on Tuesday was on full display against the Orlando Magic.
The night before in their win over the Celtics, the Bucks only needed to hold onto a 15-point lead Antetokounmpo helped build. On Wednesday, going head-to-head with one of the teams directly behind them in the Eastern Conference standings, Portis and the Bucks needed to set the tone early. They did just that, ultimately beating the Magic, 117-99, on the second night of a back-to-back for both teams.
All night long, the Bucks leaned on Portis, who scored 20 points in his first 11 minutes en route to 30 points, nine rebounds and three assists, and All-Star point guard Damian Lillard, who ended the night with 29 points, six rebounds and nine assists. Both players dominated the proceedings all night long and helped the Bucks pull out a comfortable victory. Their effort was best seen in the second quarter where the Bucks outscored the Magic, 37-27, and opened up a 14-point halftime lead.
Slotted into the starting lineup with Antetokounmpo out, Portis’ scoring helped the Bucks steady themselves early, but it was his defense that allowed the Bucks to take control against the Magic.
On the floor with newly inserted starter Pat Beverley and Pat Connaughton — two players he has played alongside quite a bit this season — to start the second quarter, Portis started to get a good read for what the Magic were doing offensively and took advantage with aggressive blitzes on former teammate Joe Ingles.
Not only did Portis poke the ball away and help the Bucks secure a steal, he also made the right play on the offensive end by passing up a potentially good look at a left corner 3 to drive and kick out to Beverley for a wide-open 3 in the opposite corner.
But the good team-first plays didn’t stop there. Beverley made an extra pass as well.
Eventually, as the Bucks kept working on the offensive glass, Portis was rewarded with an open look of his own after Beverley secured the offensive rebound. But all of it started with Portis’ effort on defense. Against the Magic, Portis eventually recorded a single-game, career-high five steals.
“He made a lot of great reads,” Lillard said of Portis. “His hands were active. He was flying around and he was able to make a huge impact on the floor with deflections and knocking the ball away tonight. Those types of things he’s done all season, not always five steals, but he’s been disruptive on the ball in blitzes and shows. Just played at that level all season long. I think it’s a pretty easy call who the Sixth Man of the Year is.”
On the very next possession down the floor, Portis picked Ingles again and it led to a lay-in for Connaughton.
A few more buckets from Portis eventually helped the Bucks build a double-digit lead at the start of the second quarter.
Lillard protected that lead and built it further in the final few minutes of the second quarter with smart offensive play. While Lillard so often makes a splash offensively with his long-range shooting, Wednesday’s offensive performance had far more to do with his ability to be a floor general and get to the rim.
Magic guard Jalen Suggs is on the short list for All-Defensive honors this season, so attacking him repeatedly did not make a lot of sense for the Bucks. There were times when Lillard successfully attacked Suggs in isolation, but the Bucks were at their best when they found a way to get Suggs off of Lillard and let their point guard attack a weaker defender.
“That was great,” Rivers said of his team’s ability to create opportunities for Lillard to drive. “We did a good job of trying to pick who for him to take off the dribble. I thought in the beginning of the game, we were impatient with it. And then as the game went on, we got in a great rhythm with it.”
Lillard simply took advantage of his quickness and caught Paolo Banchero off balance on that first possession. A few plays later, he really took his time and seemed to enjoy getting isolated against Banchero.
With a few dribble moves, Lillard blew by Banchero for the finger roll and the Bucks had a 16-point lead.
Behind Portis’ two-way effort and Lillard’s decision-making, the Bucks built a comfortable double-digit lead at halftime. In the second half, they came out and held that lead. The Magic never cut the Bucks’ lead down to single digits and the Bucks eventually built a lead as large as 27 points.
A little more than a week after having their professionalism questioned by Rivers following a loss to the Wizards in Washington D.C., the Bucks put together an exceedingly professional effort against two Eastern Conference playoff teams on consecutive nights in Milwaukee.
The real challenge, however, starts on Friday.
If the Bucks want to hold on to the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference, they will need to take this level of professionalism with them on the road to Oklahoma City on Friday and Orlando on Sunday, and they will have to do it without Antetokounmpo, who will miss the remainder of the regular season.
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(Photo of Bobby Portis: Stacy Revere / Getty Images)
