3 takeaways from Milwaukee Bucks blowout win over Portland Trail Blazers

Is there a better way to start off a four-game West Coast road trip than an absolute laugher? The Milwaukee Bucks don’t think so and that’s what they did last night to the Portland Trail Blazers.

They led by as many as 34 points in a 137-108 win in a road game that wasn’t much of a road environment with plenty of Bucks fans making their presence known. Even when things were relatively close in the second quarter (Portland had cut the lead to five after it was 18), things never really seemed out of the Bucks’ control.

Although the focus will shift to their game tonight against the Los Angeles Clippers, there were some fun things from a huge win that the Bucks really needed.

Bobby Portis simply couldn’t miss against the Portland Trail Blazers

Part of the reason why the Bucks have been scuffling so much recently has been the under-the-radar shooting slump for Bobby Portis. For a team that hasn’t gotten a ton from their bench offensively, the starters are relied on to score a ton.

In his last nine games coming into this one, Portis had shot 25.6 percent from 3 on around four attempts per game. He was providing his usual toughness, rebounding, and energy but the 3-point shot wasn’t there after he’d been stroking it well all season.

Shooters go through slumps, even Steph Curry! But it was taking a toll on the offense when he wasn’t knocking those shots down consistently.

That all changed tonight and we get the positive regression game after all those cold nights. Portis had a season-high 30 points, going 11-of-13 from the field and 6-of-8 from 3 along with four rebounds, five assists, a steal, and two blocks.

It was getting a bit ridiculous at certain points and he could have had a couple of more 3s if he got his toes behind the line. Heck, if things stayed close, he would have threatened his career-high 38 points.

Portis’ shooting is huge for the Bucks’ success along with his improving defense and games like tonight are going to be even sweeter when Brook Lopez is back and you get performances like this off the bench.