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Bucks’ Bobby Portis calls out Pacers as ‘frontunners’

Originally posted on ClutchPoints | By Preston Byers | Last updated 4/24/24

After a surprisingly decisive Game 1 victory over the Indiana Pacers without superstar player Giannis Antetokounmpo, the Milwaukee Bucks fell behind and stayed behind in a 125-108 Game 2 home loss on Tuesday. And toward the end of the game, the Pacers’ Obi Toppin and Bucks’ Chris Livingston were both issued technical fouls for chirping at each other, which Bucks forward Bobby Portis says is just an example of the Pacers being “frontrunners.”

Through the first two games of the playoff series, the Pacers have been called for three technicals, while the Bucks have been whistled for two. In Game 2, Andrew Nembhard drew a tech for standing over Patrick Beverley in the third quarter. This was the second consecutive game Nembhard has been assessed a technical; he and Damian Lillard were issued double technicals for trash-talking and going face-to-face in Game 1.

After the game, Portis was asked about the Pacers’ trash talk and some of the physicality and technicals so far in this series.

“I mean, just quite frankly, they frontrunners, bro. Y’all can just tweet that or whatever it is, bro. When the sh*t going good, they laughing, clapping all that. When it’s going bad, then they not saying nothing,” Portis said. “Guys always feel good when they having a good game or hitting shots. I think that’s just human nature in basketball; when you making shots, you’re feeling good. But when the tough going and can’t get nothing going, it can kind of go the other way. So yeah, they’re supposed to feel good. They was hitting shots, they game-planned really well, and yeah, they supposed to feel good, of course. But Game 3 on the way Friday.”

"I mean, just quite frankly, they're frontrunners, bro. Y'all can just tweet that or whatever it is, bro. When the sh*t going good, they laughing, clapping all that. When it's going bad, they not saying nothing."

Bobby Portis on the Pacers pic.twitter.com/zqePg7NaoS

— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) April 24, 2024

Pacers vs. Bucks rivalry

An unexpected NBA rivalry was born this season between the Indiana Pacers and Milwaukee Bucks. Despite the Pacers being a young, up-and-coming team and the Bucks being an older, veteran-laden team with championship aspirations, the teams clashed in memorable ways multiple times during the season.

Possibly most notably, Giannis Antetokounmpo, after scoring a career-high and franchise-record-setting 64 points, yelled and ran down the tunnel after Pacers employees he believed had taken the game ball he planned to keep to commemorate his accomplishment. That bizarre incident was just one of several moments this season in which the Pacers and Bucks were at odds; Indiana erased a double-digit fourth-quarter deficit in November to beat Milwaukee before eliminating the Bucks from the In-Season Tournament, during which Tyrese Haliburton used Damian Lillard’s “Dame Time” celebration.

And the harsh feelings seemingly evidently didn’t stop even though the teams have largely stayed away from each other over the past few months. After Tuesday’s win in Milwaukee, Haliburton indicated he wasn’t particularly impressed with the Bucks fans.

“I’m expecting it to be unbelievable, no doubt about that,” Haliburton said. “I mean, we’ve had regular-season crowds better than what we’ve played in these last two games, so we expect a great crowd. A lot of people are excited about what’s to come in the series, and just the energy in the city right now with everything that’s going on, but especially with us, we’re excited to go.”

Haliburton also said that a fan in attendance for Game 1 racially abused his younger brother.

“My little brother in the stands the other day was called an N-word,” Haliburton said after Gaem 2. “It was important for us as a family to just address that. That was important for us to talk about because that didn’t sit right with anybody in our family. It’s just been important to have my family here right now, and my little brother’s handled that the right way.”

A Bucks spokesman said that a person who had been sitting in the wrong seat had claimed “a person sitting in front of him had used a derogatory term toward him” and that “the accused person denied the accusation.”

The Bucks will play the Pacers in Game 3 in Indiana on Friday.

This article first appeared on ClutchPoints and was syndicated with permission.

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