Nickel: You think you know a guy, and then Bobby Portis shows a whole new side
Bobby Portis Jr. is feisty and spicy, unapologetic and unafraid. He’s the first to defend his team, and himself, from injury or insult. He can be unfiltered and honest, self-assured in his sense of what is wrong vs. right. So he puts people on notice: the challenger in the low post, the reporter with the negative tone, the mistaken critic on X.
He was that way long before he got to Milwaukee, and while he’s worked on choosing his battles, he has not mellowed out since.
In Game 4 of the NBA first-round playoff series against the Pacers on Sunday, Portis fought Indiana guard Andrew Nembhard and was ejected. The already-undermanned Bucks battled valiantly but lost without him and faced a stunning elimination Game 5 on Tuesday.
But Portis is also loyal to his Milwaukee team, to a level of fraternity that most of us will never experience, so on Tuesday morning, before he and his Bucks played the Pacers for the 10th time this season (games in which Portis has now been ejected twice), the 29-year-old forward met with his teammates with contrition.
"Obviously, I'm an emotional player, I wear my heart on my sleeve. I give my all every night,” he said. “I take pride on being available for my team. Game 4, little scuffle, whatever it is, maybe crossed the line. You feel me? I let my team down by getting ejected.
“So I owed them an apology, for sure, just to let them know that what I did wasn't right.”
Bucks teammate Khris Middleton really appreciated that Portis took accountability for his gaffe.
"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."
That set the stage for the late-hour Game 5 on Tuesday night, a 115-92 Bucks victory that might have changed the momentum of this contentious series, which now heads back to Indianapolis on Thursday with the Pacers leading three games to two.
Once again, just as it was in Game 4, the Bucks were severely undermanned Tuesday, with Damian Lillard joining Giannis Antetokounmpo on the bench due to injury. Those two led the Bucks in scoring in 74 of the 82 regular-season games. Their absence is glaring.
Portis responded with a career-playoff record 29 points and helped Milwaukee win the essential rebounding battle with 10 boards.
But that’s not all.
Doc Rivers took measured approach to Bobby Portis' ejection in Game 4
Bucks coach Doc Rivers, just three months into this gig, is still getting to know his new guys, but he’s already developed a couple of fun but challenging exchanges with the big man. With Portis' Game 4 ejection, Rivers had a choice. He could lecture Portis, as the entire state of Wisconsin wanted to, or he could monitor everyone's reactions.
Rivers said “not a word” to his veteran forward. Instead, Rivers sent in assistant coach Vin Baker to gauge Portis’ emotional response.
“I called Vin – Reverend Baker – to go talk to him. And Vin did a great job there. He reported back and said, ‘He's good,’” Rivers said. “(Portis) came in and said some things to the team and I told all my coaches, 'Don't say another word to Bobby, he's in a good space; leave him alone.’ He's a vet, so you can over-talk it.
"And, I was concerned about him going the other way – being passive."
Well that would be natural, right? Playing reserved, subdued, after getting ejected, not wanting to take any chances. But the playoffs and passivity don’t go well together. When the Bucks play submissive against this vexing Pacers team, they’re done. All Indiana coach Rick Carlisle talked about after Game 1 was needing to play with toughness, aggression and moxie – and it wasn’t hard to see the Pacers wanted to get under the skin of the Bucks.
That’s why Game 4 was so devastating for Milwaukee. Seven minutes into the game, Portis first shoved Nembhard and then slapped Nembhard in the head when the Pacers guard lunged forward. Portis was restrained by Bucks security as the players were separated and the officials ejected him from the game.
Given all the history between these teams this year, given that Portis had just been denied, again, the NBA Sixth Man of the Year Award days before the game, his reaction was both somewhat understandable yet entirely inexcusable. That officiating crew already had popped both Pascal Siakam from Indiana and Pat Beverley from Milwaukee with early technical fouls for minor offenses, clearly signaling that the physical and verbal provocations would not be tolerated.
But Portis didn’t heed the warning signs and got sucked into the drama.
"There's individual wars that you have to win, to win the game. And I got caught up in the individual war with one of their players,” Portis said.
Fuming after the fight, Portis took a seat on the bench while officials reviewed his offense. The first guy to confront Portis?
Middleton.
Khris Middleton can talk to Bobby Portis like no one else can
Just three years ago, when Portis was eager to finally be part of a winning NBA team, he was mentored by Middleton quite often. Middleton could talk to Portis practically about every play in the book. It was actually pretty cool to watch, a teammate willing to help, and another teammate enthralled with taking the guidance.
When the Bucks got to the NBA Finals in 2021 against Phoenix, with everything on the line and emotions soaring, Portis got into it with Jae Crowder of all people, a future teammate. Again, it was a clash of two mentally and physically strong competitors in Game 6 against the Suns at Fiserv Forum. Then, Portis was whistled for a technical against Crowder and he was simmering, eyes wide enough to be seen from the International Space Station.
Middleton got right in his face, several times, telling him to calm down. Middleton could reach Portis in a way no coach could, because Middleton was on the floor. Middleton took the lid off Portis and composure was restored.
To this day, Middleton still appreciates the fiery nature of Portis.
"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."
This season, Portis was whistled for 16 technical fouls, third most of all NBA players.
But after he was ejected Sunday, he watched the game from the visitors' locker room in Indiana, refusing to take off his uniform and jersey. Regret came over him. He could have had such an impact.
The way he did that in Game 5, he said, was he "zoned out." That's really, really hard to do for passionate people, but he turned away from the chatter by the Pacers and ignored the jersey tugs, the unseen shoves. And yet he was still Bobby Portis, shimmying and dancing for the crowd, and following Pat Beverley on a "too small" gesture for fun on the court. In 39 minutes he was whistled for just one personal foul.
These Pacers and Bucks? They do not like each other, and yet they will play for an 11th time this season. Really, it's a miracle there isn't a fight every 10 minutes.
But you think you know a guy and then Bobby Portis shows you a whole new side of him.
He was unbothered.
More: Nickel: Bucks newcomer Bobby Portis has a motive, a role and an appreciation
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Bobby Portis showed a whole new side in Game 5 victory over Pacers
