The Milwaukee Bucks played the Boston Celtics on Friday night and were celebrating Giannis Antetokounmpo's 30th birthday and the long-awaited return of Khris Middleton. The Bucks were doing well for the majority of the game, keeping pace with the Celtics and even building a slight lead.
The Bucks couldn't finish the game off with a win and were given their second loss in a row, their first back-to-back losses since early November. Following this game, Bobby Portis was trending near unplayable status for his lack of offensive production and known lack of defensive ability.
Bobby Portis was 4-for-15 from the field in Friday's game against the Celtics, including 0-for-4 from the 3-point line. Underscoring the 26.7 percent shooting on the night was poor shot selection. Bobby Portis has had a lot of instances of forcing shots this season. When Portis ends up with a smaller defender on him, he often forces a jump hook, whether he has a good look at it or not.
Portis' 4-for-15 night brought his season shooting percentages down to 44.5 percent from the field and just 32.4 percent from the 3-point line. To really drive home the point about how far his efficiency has fallen, look at his first season with the Bucks; he shot 47.1 percent from the 3-point line.
Switching to the defensive side of the ball, Bobby Portis is who he's always been. Portis has never been regarded as a good defender in the NBA, but his offense and rebounding prowess have always been enough to overlook shortcomings on that side of the floor. He did have 18 rebounds against the Celtics, but a high rebound total simply isn't enough to overlook other shortcomings.
Bobby Portis' Resurgence: Better late than never
Following that really ugly performance on Friday night, we got a showing of prime Bobby Portis, the version that hits shots and plays with energy, on Sunday afternoon against the Brooklyn Nets.
Portis actually outplayed Brook Lopez in minutes, 31 to 26, and made 9 out of 10 field goals, including 5-for-5 behind the 3-point line, easily his best game of the season. Portis wasn't the same version of himself rebounding the ball as he was when he tallied 18 boards against the Celtics, but he added five rebounds, an assist, a steal and his second three-block game of the season.
Bobby Portis did something that can take the Milwaukee Bucks' second unit from solid to great. He made plays in crunch time on the defensive end on a night when he was hitting shots. In the last 5:20, he had two 3-point shots to cut a five-point Nets lead to two, a third 3-point make that gave the Bucks a 109-108 lead and a block on Dennis Schroder, who was making everything on Sunday.
This is the version of Bobby Portis that we need to see to quell the trade rumblings around him. Following that Celtics game, the sentiment around Bobby was not good. However, Bobby Portis followed up that great game on Sunday with another great game on Tuesday in the semi-final round of the NBA Cup tournament against the Orlando Magic.
For the second straight game, Bobby Portis played more minutes than Brook Lopez, 31 to 28. Bobby was also +11, whereas Brook Lopez was -8 on the night. The Magic, when matched up against Bobby Portis, shot just 5-for-13 from the field (38.4 percent). Against Brook Lopez, the Magic were 5-for-14 (35.7 percent), essentially a wash. Basically, that means Bobby Portis' offense was the sole reason for the difference in the two players +/-. There are other contextual factors involved, but Bobby Portis' efficiency cannot be overlooked in these last two games.
Bobby Portis turned in another crazy efficient shooting game, going 9-for-11 from the field to the tune of 22 points to go with 10 rebounds, four assists (his second-highest total of the season), a steal and a block.
Compared to the entire season so far spanning 24 games, these last two games are a very small sample size. However, what Bobby Portis is doing over these last two games has been absolutely outstanding, and if the Milwaukee Bucks continue to get this version of him more often than not, we'll be hearing the "Bobby! Bobby! Bobby!" chants more consistently again in very short order.
Bobby Portis will have to continue this production to completely quiet the trade rumors surrounding his name, but if he reverts back to the version Bucks fans saw for the first 22 games, his name may go right back into the mud.