There has been a lot of talk about Milwaukee Bucks big man Bobby Portis and his role in their Game 4 loss to the Indiana Pacers on Sunday. The fact that the veteran barely lasted seven minutes into the game before getting himself ejected played an undeniably key role in the Bucks falling into a 3-1 deficit against Indiana.
Portis did not say much after his brutal ejection. Instead, he let his game do the talking in Game 5 as he helped lead Milwaukee to a 115-92 blowout victory on Tuesday night to keep their season alive.
Milwaukee Bucks News: Khris Middleton Opens Up on Bobby Portis
Bucks star Khris Middleton knows Portis well. These two have been in the foxhole together for many years now, and for his part, Middleton believes that Portis knew how much he let the team down with his rash actions in Game 4:
“He didn’t need to say it,” Middleton said. “Because we all knew how he felt about the situation after the game and during the moment.”
Middleton doesn’t deny getting disappointed with the turn of events. At the same time, however, he was always confident that Portis would respond the right way:
“I don’t think anybody wants Bobby to change the way he plays,” Middleton said. “Or who he is. He needs that to be himself and play at a high level and we need that spark from him to get us going sometimes.
“He’s always done a great job of flirting with that line. It was just, the other night, it was just a little too much. I think he felt that and he was pissed off at himself about that. He knows he, or we, can’t put ourself in that situation again. He came out and played a hell of a game tonight.”
Portis exploded for a game-high 29 points (tied with Middleton) in Game 5 on 14-of-24 shooting, to go along with 10 rebounds. It was exactly the type of bounce-back performance the Bucks expected from the vet, and he delivered in a major way.
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