The Indiana Pacers caught a major break after it was revealed that the Milwaukee Bucks are preparing to not have Giannis Antetokounmpo available to start their first-round playoff series. Damian Lillard is a beast, but there’s no denying that the Bucks are a much weaker side without the former back-to-back MVP.
The Pacers, however, are not taking anything likely. If anything, they’re already wary of the repercussions of the Bucks not having their talisman available for Game 1 on Sunday, and possibly beyond.
Milwaukee Bucks News: Pacers Head Coach Rick Carlisle Highlights Bobby Portis Threat
Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle is well aware of the fact that Giannis might not play in the series opener on Sunday. In fact, it’s also possible that Antetokounmpo calf injury doesn’t heal in time and that he’s forced to sit out the entire series.
Be that as it may, Carlisle understands that not having Giannis makes the Bucks a much different monster. He’s pinpointed veteran Bobby Portis as one of the biggest threats whenever Antetokounmpo is unavailable:
“If Giannis doesn’t play for a day or whatever it is, Portis is playing the best he’s played his entire career,” Carlisle said, via Dustin Dopirak of Journal & Courier. “He’s shooting like 70% from 3 in his last five games. There’s just a lot to digest whether Giannis plays or whether he doesn’t.”
As Carlisle pointed out, Portis has stepped up in a major way for Milwaukee since Giannis went down. Portis started in the Bucks’ last three regular-season games, and he’s produced averages of 17.0 points on 64.7 percent shooting, 9.0 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 2.3 steals, and 1.0 blocks in 27.6 minutes per contest. He’s also knocking down 1.7 triples per game on an 83.3 percent clip (!).
Portis will clearly be a man to watch for the Pacers in this series. However, you can be sure that Indiana would much rather deal with the 6-foot-10 veteran as opposed to having to battle Giannis Antetokounmpo.
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