Milwaukee Bucks big man Bobby Portis had his best game of the season and one of the best of his career against the Washington Wizards on Saturday night.
He scored a season-high 34 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to get to his fourth double-double of the season, leading the way on a night where the Bucks needed role players to step up. With no Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard, he wasn't afraid of taking the ball, looking for his spots in the post and setting the tone on offense. Once he got it going, he shot the lights out from three to get Milwaukee an easy win.
That wasn't really all that surprising, though. Bobby Portis has been a prolific scorer when the star players weren't available before. However, there was something about his game nobody saw coming despite the absences.
Bobby Portis' passing stood out in Bucks' win over Wizards
With eight assists, Portis logged a new career-high, helping the offense get into a better rhythm and use some much-needed ball movement. It wasn't anything crazy, as he didn't dish out any highlight-level assists, but he was more willing to pass than he usually is, which is a step in the right direction for him. One of the main criticisms about his style is how often he ball-hogs and stops the flow of the offense, but that wasn't really the case for the Milwaukee Bucks this time.
In fact, this is becoming a bit of a trend for him this year, given that he's averaging a career-high in assists for the whole season. Again, that doesn't mean he's suddenly become a great playmaker - it's just 1.9 assists a game - but this game solidifies his growth in this specific aspect. That can be quite important for the Milwaukee Bucks.
Since he got to Milwaukee, Bobby Portis has tallied four or more assists in 19 games, and the Bucks have won all of them. Is that a small sample size for an almost five-year tenure? Probably. But there's still one easy conclusion to take away from that: his willingness to pass the ball is a positive.
He doesn't need to be the most creative passer out there. He just needs to make some extra passes from time to time or give the ball to an open shooter when the defense closes on his post-ups. Milwaukee's roster has good enough shooters that those passes are going to lead him to some easy assists, which will also be helpful for his scoring since he will have more space in the paint if the defense is afraid of a potential kick-out pass.
This might not just be a great night for Portis. This game could show him the way to be a better offensive fit and be able to help the team even when he's not scoring, which is something he really needs to focus on. The Bucks aren't as in need of a secondary scorer as they were before they got Lillard, so there are some adjustments for him to make, and he finally seems to be right on track.