Milwaukee Bucks: 3 reasons Bobby Portis is excelling off the bench

Bobby Portis provides the Milwaukee Bucks bench scoring

16th century English writer John Heywood once said “Many hands make light work.” In the game of basketball, the team with the most balanced scoring attack usually comes out on top. Going into the season, it could reasonably be assumed that Giannis Antetokounmpo, Kris Middleton and Jrue Holiday would carry the bulk of the Milwaukee Bucks scoring load. The question was “who else is going to step up and get buckets?”

So far, Bobby Portis has volunteered his bucket-getting services admirably. In Saturday night’s win against the Cleveland Cavaliers he scored 17 points, making it the eighth out of 10 games that he’s reached double digits. Portis has grown accustomed to scoring points off the bench. In the second half of the 2019 season, he averaged 14.3 points per game after being traded to the Washington Wizards. That kind of productivity off the pine is a hot commodity in a league that values depth.

If Portis is able to keep scoring at his current pace, Coach Mike Budenholzer’s trust in him will only grow. This Bucks team is thinking championship-or-bust; key contributions from role players are an absolute must during deep playoff runs. Portis was brought in to make sure the second unit could maintain any lead the starters may have accumulated. So far, he’s doing a nice job.