3 Milwaukee Bucks role players who could be the key for a great playoff run

Bobby Portis: Can he find his best self again?

If Beasley is a coin flip, then Bobby Portis has been a roulette this season. We've seen some very high highs, some very low lows, some solid games and some mediocre ones. But despite that unreliability, he's the main bench scorer, and he's going to be needed in some stretches, so the Bucks will need him to be back to his best version.

He's in a weird spot, though, because he has performed the best when Giannis and Middleton were out. One would assume that won't be the case in the playoffs. However, he will be on the court quite often without at least any of them and will likely have a prominent role as a second-unit scorer.

The Bucks' bench ranks 19th in scoring this season, and things would be way worse without his 13.5 points per game. While the starting lineup is one of the most dominant in the league this year, the bench unit has been quite problematic. That's not a terrible place to be since rotations tend to get shorter in the playoffs, but it is still something to worry about.

The team needs a way to survive those bench minutes, and Portis has proven himself as a player who can keep the offense going while the stars are resting.

The Bucks probably won't need him to be outstanding every game, but he can't be as inconsistent as he's been through some parts of the season. Bench players like Jae Crowder, Pat Connaughton or Green can have good scoring nights, but Portis is the only one who can create his own offense and who can make a bucket out of nothing. He's the one who can reduce the huge workload Giannis and Lillard are likely going to take.

Something to spot on is the fact that Portis will probably face quite a few mismatches. Most teams don't really like to play with two bigs, but he frequently shares the court with Giannis (989 minutes) and Lopez (638 minutes), so he will be guarded by a smaller player. We've alredy seen that happen through the regular season. Will he be able to punish those matchups?

If he can, as he's done, he will then condition the opposing team, and the offense will flow better. If he can't, as has been the case, too, the Bucks' offense could get stuck, and the team can end up digging itself in a hole for a few minutes. And against tough playoff rivals, they might not be able to overcome that.