Bucks big man Bobby Portis returned from his 25-game suspension on Tuesday and made a statement. He recorded 18 points and 10 rebounds in 29 minutes off the bench, helping lift Milwaukee to a win over the Timberwolves.
“My only goal is to get to June,” Portis said, per ESPN. “How can we get to June? We haven’t been there in so long.”
Minnesota led Milwaukee by 24 points in the fourth quarter, but behind a key steal, block and three, Portis helped spark the comeback. Bucks fans chanted Portis’s name by the end of the game.
“My first year playing for the Bucks in the 2020-21 season, when I first started getting the chants, it was like chills, right?” Portis said. “I ain’t had the chills since that moment, but now tonight, I felt it all over again. It was a very surreal moment for me.”
The Bucks are fifth in the Eastern Conference standings, and Portis’s contributions helped get the team to five straight wins.
“Sometimes when you’re suspended, you might not feel you’re a part of it,” Portis said. “There wasn’t one day I was suspended that I didn’t feel like I was part of the team. I felt like I was still here. I just couldn’t play.”
We have more from the Central Division:
- Detroit’s Thursday game against the Knicks might be a preview of a first-round playoff series between the two teams, Omari Sankofa II of the Detroit Free Press notes. Two iconic Pistons victories this season game against New York, with Cade Cunningham becoming the first Piston with a triple-double in Madison Square Garden since the current arena opened in 1968 in December and Cunningham scoring 36 points against the Knicks in January. “I think it’s fun,” coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. “I think it’s an opportunity for both teams to go out and send a message.“
- The Bulls bolstered their chances of hosting a play-in game when they defeated Miami on Wednesday, Brian Sandalow of the Chicago Sun-Times notes. The win put the Bulls 1.0 games ahead of the Heat for ninth in the Eastern Conference standings and Chicago owns the tiebreaker between the two teams. If Chicago defeats the Wizards on Friday or Sixers on Sunday, they’ll clinch the home-court advantage for the play-in. “We knew coming into the game the implications that a win or a loss had,” Josh Giddey said.
- Cavaliers head coach Kenny Atkinson said Jarrett Allen made it a goal to play 82 games, which would be the first time that’s occurred in his career. According to Dustin Dopirak of IndyStar (Twitter link), the Cavaliers plan to respect that goal while managing his minutes accordingly. Allen is the only Cavs starter who suited up on Thursday.