As the Milwaukee Bucks got pitted for a heavyweight bout against one of their Conference nemesis, the Boston Celtics, it was Bobby Portis who came up with a big-time performance.
Bobby torched the C's with his hot hand as the Bucks’ sixth man poured a team-high 28 points to spearhead Milwaukee's wire-to-wire demolition, 135-102, on Thursday night in Fiserv Forum.
In what could have been a thrilling ball game between two East giants, which also saw the first-ever return of former Buck in Jrue Holiday in Milwaukee, Bobby, and the Bucks turned it up and made it a one-sided affair.
On the groove
Bobby saw himself as the x-factor of the Bucks’ monstrous rally in the first half, which turned out to be the launch pad of the team's wire-to-wire finish. Milwaukee fired a furious 25-0 run between the first and second quarter to quickly stomp Boston, and Portis occupied the biggest chunk of it with 13 massive points.
The leadership he provided ultimately propelled the Bucks to stamp a 75-38 lead at halftime, the fourth-biggest halftime advantage in franchise history.
"Just feeling it," Portis said of boosting the said sizzling stretch. "Getting in the gym over the last couple days. It was great to have a couple days off, get some rest for one but just get in the gym at night time and get back to the basics. That's all we needed. Me and my two OGs do we what we always do — get in the gym trust our work and go out there and shoot the same shots we always shoot. And today, they just happened to go in. Happy to see the ball go through the net a little bit.”
Continue grinding
After dropping four of their last five games, the Bucks couldn't be more refreshed and relieved in regaining their momentum courtesy of walloping the league-leading Celtics. Their record has improved to 26-12, and they are finally back in the win column.
Nevertheless, Portis argued that they have no time to dwell on this resounding victory as they still have plenty of work to do with their season still in progress.
“It's just another game, to be honest. You can't get too high, get too low in this league. That's what the 82-game stretch for us is — to find rhythm, find camaraderie, chemistry. You go out there, play and have fun. Whatever it is, but it's just another game for us,” he said.
“Happy we got the dub, but I think our minds are focused on Golden State [Warriors] on Saturday. Big week, two fast-paced teams who like to get up and down. So we have to lock in.”
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