Bobby Portis returns from suspension, ignites Bucks’ rally

MILWAUKEE — Bobby Portis made quite the impression in his return from a 25-game suspension.

He wants to create a similar impact all the way into the summer as the Milwaukee Bucks forward attempts to make up for all the time he missed.

“My only goal is to get to June,” Portis said after sparking the Bucks’ rally from a 24-point, fourth-quarter deficit in a 110-103 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday. “How can we get to June? We haven’t been there in so long.”

Playing for the first time since the All-Star break after a positive test for the painkiller Tramadol caused his suspension, Portis had 18 points and 10 rebounds while helping the Bucks produce one of the greatest comebacks in franchise history.

According to Sportradar, this marked only the fifth time that a team has won a game it trailed by at least 24 points in the fourth quarter since 1996-97, which is when the NBA started tracking play-by-play data.

Portis’ teammates credited him for the rally.

“We got our man back,” guard Kevin Porter Jr. said. “Bobby, man, he gave us life.”

Portis made a steal that led to a basket that put Milwaukee ahead for good. After pulling down a rebound that led to his game-clinching free throws in the final minute, a raucous Fiserv Forum crowd chanted “Bobby,” continuing a ritual that started during the Bucks’ 2021 title run.

“My first year playing for the Bucks in the 2020-21 season, when I first started getting the chants, it was like chills, right?” Portis said. “I ain’t had the chills since that moment, but now tonight, I felt it all over again. It was a very surreal moment for me.”

It was a triumphant moment in a trying year. Portis already had dealt with the death of his grandmother and the burglary of his home before he learned about his suspension.

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The 30-year-old forward has indicated he took Tramadol unintentionally. His agent, Mark Bartelstein, said Portis believed he was taking Toradol, which is approved and is something that he has taken before.

“Sometimes, things just get thrown at you fast, and you have to be able to adapt,” Portis said. “One thing about the league — 10 years in, a decade in — every year tests you in a different way. Every game, every season tests you just different.”

Bucks coach Doc Rivers said that it was human nature for Portis to feel angry about the suspension initially because “you feel like you’ve been branded a cheater when you know you didn’t cheat.” Rivers said it probably took Portis “a couple of good weeks” to get over that.

“He was doing the work, but his spirit wasn’t Bobby,” Rivers said. “And I don’t know when that turned, but it definitely turned. I thought the workouts really helped him. As crazy as it sounds, card games on the plane helped him. Maybe he was winning. Maybe the guys were letting him win, who knows? But I thought all that stuff helped him. It takes a family sometimes to get through stuff, and I thought our guys really, really embraced him.”

Portis credited his support system, his teammates and the Bucks organization for helping him through the suspension and making him continue to feel like a part of the team.

“Sometimes when you’re suspended, you might not feel you’re a part of it,” Portis said. “There wasn’t one day I was suspended that I didn’t feel like I was part of the team. I felt like I was still here. I just couldn’t play.”

Now he can play again, and his return gives the Bucks hope they can make a long postseason run regardless of their seeding.

Milwaukee is fifth in the Eastern Conference standings and almost certainly will open the playoffs away from home. Seven-time all-NBA guard Damian Lillard remains out indefinitely as he deals with blood clots in his calf that leave his playoff status uncertain.

But in his first game back, Portis showed just how much of a difference he can make.

“He’s a guy who knows how to win games,” two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo said. “You can always count on him to make big plays down the stretch, to get big stops, get rebounds. And his energy just helps the team.”