It’s going to be extremely tough for Damian Lillard to carry the Milwaukee Bucks without Giannis Antetokounmpo. It’s a good thing he has guys like Bobby Portis to help him out, which was exactly the case on Wednesday night in their 117-99 blowout win over the Orlando Magic.
Combined, Lillard and Portis scored 59 points between them to lead Milwaukee to a crucial victory that allowed the Bucks to strengthen their hold on the No. 2 seed in the East.
Milwaukee Bucks News: Damian Lillard Campaigning for Bobby Portis’ Sixth Man of the Year Bid
For his part, Portis has been the most important player for Milwaukee’s second unit. While he did get the spot start on Wednesday against Orlando, his usual role has been to provide a scoring punch off the bench night after night.
Lillard had nothing but praise for Portis’ performance in their win over the Magic. According to Dame, there is no doubt in his mind that Portis should come home with the Sixth Man of the Year title at the end of this season:
“He made a lot of great reads,” Lillard said of Portis, via Eric Nehm of The Athletic. “His hands were active. He was flying around and he was able to make a huge impact on the floor with deflections and knocking the ball away tonight. Those types of things he’s done all season, not always five steals, but he’s been disruptive on the ball in blitzes and shows. Just played at that level all season long. I think it’s a pretty easy call who the Sixth Man of the Year is.”
Currently, the bookmakers have Portis listed all the way at fourth in terms of his odds of winning the Sixth Man trophy. He’s a +8,000 underdog against the likes of Norman Powell, Naz Reid, and Malik Monk, who’s currently the -150 favorite to bag the title.
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