Bobby Portis backed down Jaylen Brown for a few dribbles, spun then hit the midrange jumper over the Celtics star. It was a normal play, but after making the shot, Portis talked some trash right to Brown.
Brown gave Portis a light shove as the Bucks veteran was amped up hitting the bucket. But Portis picked up the technical foul for talking too much. It didn’t matter much as the Bucks ran away from the Celtics 116-101 Thursday in Milwaukee. Portis explained what was going through his mind when he picked up the tech.
“I’m an emotional player,” Portis told reporters. “I wear my heart on my sleeve, especially in big games, things like this. I just like to ball. I just like to hoop. When you make a couple shots, basketball at the gym is one of the places where you can scream and be yourself. It’s not like the classroom where you gotta be quiet. I’ve always been taught to play with swag, play with emotion and have fun. When you have fun, I think everything else flows and the ball just finds energy.”
Portis was a huge part of the victory as the Bucks outscored the Celtics 56-34 in the second half. He finished with 27 points and 10 rebounds on 11-for-13 shooting, including going 5-for-6 on 3s. Kyle Kuzma added 31 points while Kevin Porter Jr. put up 18 points, 10 rebounds and 13 assists in what ended up being a comfortable Milwaukee win. The Bucks did all that against the soaring Celtics despite missing star Giannis Antetokounmpo.
When Portis picked up the tech, it seemingly fired up the Bucks. On the other side, the Celtics’ vaunted offense just couldn’t make shots. They missed 16 straight 3-pointers to open the second half, including an 0-for-12 showing in the third quarter.
It was just one of those nights for the Celtics as shots refused to fall despite offense coming easy in the first half. The C’s scuffled while the Bucks soared, which is what happens over the course of a long NBA season. The loss snapped a five-game win streak for the Celtics as they fell to 15-10 on the season.
“For the most part, we missed advantages,” C’s coach Joe Mazzulla said. “I thought we went through some good moments of advantage creation and missing shots. But I thought they turned their pressure up a little bit and we weren’t as sharp on our execution a little bit in the second half there.”