Milwaukee, WI
Bucks vs. Pacers: Bobby Portis redeems himself as Milwaukee stays alive without its stars
MILWAUKEE — A few minutes into the Milwaukee Bucks’ Game 4 loss to the Indiana Pacers, Bobby Portis was ejected for scuffling with Andrew Nembhard. The veteran forward went back to the visitor’s locker room deep inside Gainbridge Fieldhouse, took a seat at his locker and watched the rest of the game without even taking off his jersey. Time and again throughout the night, he saw moments where he knew he could have helped his team.
As Game 5 approached, all Portis wanted was a chance to set things right. He started the day by apologizing to his teammates during a film session, then went out and showed them he really meant it by pouring in a playoff-career-high 29 points on 14-of-24 shooting from the field and grabbing 10 rebounds in the Bucks’ season-saving 115-92 win.
By the time he walked off the court for good late in the fourth quarter, he did so to a standing ovation and the familiar “Bobby! Bobby!” chant that has become a staple at Fiserv Forum throughout his tenure.
“Every time he steps on the court he leaves it all out there,” Brook Lopez said. “He goes out there and he can hoop, he wants to win and fans just love that obviously. We knew BP was gonna come out and be himself and be great.”
After winning Game 1 comfortably, the short-handed Bucks dropped three in a row and found themselves down 3-1 — a deficit they have never overcome in franchise history. Giannis Antetokounmpo hasn’t played the entire series due to a calf injury, and Damian Lillard has sat out of the last two games due to an Achilles issue.
It’s unclear when or if the Bucks’ stars will be back in the first round, and Portis hadn’t handled the extra pressure their absences put on him very well during the Bucks’ three consecutive defeats. He gave the Pacers bulletin board material by calling them “frontrunners” after Game 2, scored 31 points on 31 shots in Games 2 and 3 combined, then got tossed from Game 4.
Rivers was “very proud” of how Portis responded on Tuesday, as were his teammates. While they all knew how Portis felt about letting them down a few nights ago, Khris Middleton said it “meant a lot” that Portis got up in front of the group and held himself accountable.
Portis’ mature and steady performance meant even more. He got to his spots, knocked down shots and played within the flow of the offense. And when the two teams got into it once more in the middle of the second quarter, Rivers said Portis was the one keeping everyone calm.
“Sometimes in basketball games or any type of competitive scene, there’s kind of individual battles you fight throughout the game,” Portis said. “I got caught up in an individual war with one of their players [in Game 4]. Just tried to zone out tonight, just worry about doing the things that coach and my team needed. Just follow the game plan and just play as hard as I could knowing that it was an elimination game.”
Portis is, in many ways, a bellwether for this Bucks team.
They were 10-4 in the regular season when he scored 20 points or more and 22-11 when he put up at least 15 points, compared to 27-22 when he failed to get to the latter number. He was much better at home, where he averaged 15.5 points on 53.6% shooting, compared to 12 points on 47.2% shooting on the road. Likewise, the Bucks went 31-11 in Milwaukee and 18-22 on their travels.
All of those trends have been magnified in the playoffs given their injury problems. Portis’ heroics may have extended the series long enough to give Antetokounmpo and Lillard — both “very, very close” to playing per Rivers — the chance to return. If not, they’ll need Portis to break the season-long trends and deliver in Indianapolis on Thursday night in Game 6.
“We know what we gotta do,” Lopez said. “We know the team we are, we know the players we are, we know the challenge we have ahead… The past is in the past. He just has to come out, be himself, take it a game at a time.”
Milwaukee, WI
Milwaukee Weather – Frosty and cold morning, sunny day ahead
MILWAUKEE – Forecast from FOX6 Meteorologist Lisa Michaels
Frosty Monday morning with temps in the teens inland to low 20s near the lake.
Mostly sunny to sunny skies on Monday. Highs in the mid-40s inland, upper 30s near the lake.
A total lunar eclipse will happen Tuesday morning, total eclipse from 5-6am. It may be tough to see due to increasing clouds.
Increasing clouds on Tuesday with highs in the low 40s. Chance of rain and storms possible Wednesday through Friday with warming temperatures.
Today: 39 Lake. Mostly sunny.
High: 44°
Wind: SE 5-10
Tonight: Partly cloudy this evening, mostly clear overnight.
Low: 27°
Wind: SE 5
Tuesday: 39 Lake. Mostly cloudy.
High: 43°
Wind: E 5-10
Wednesday:41 Lake. Chance for scattered showers and t-storms.
AM Low: 32° High: 45°
Wind: E 5-10
Thursday: 39 Lake. Mostly cloudy. Chance storms.
AM Low: 37° High: 42°
Wind: NE 5-10
Friday: Chance for showers and t-storms Warmer. Warming at night.
AM Low: 37° High: 57°
Wind: SE 5-15
Saturday: Mostly cloudy with AM rain showers. Blustery with falling afternoon temperatures.
AM Low: 47° High: 53°
Wind: NE 5-10
6-day planner
FOX6 Weather Extras
Local perspective:
Meanwhile, FOX6Now.com offers a variety of extremely useful weather tools to help you navigate the stormy season. They include the following:
FOX6 Storm Center app
FOX LOCAL Mobile app
FOX Weather app
FOX Weather
Big picture view:
Maps and radar
We have a host of maps and radars on the FOX6 Weather page that are updating regularly — to provide you the most accurate assessment of the weather. From a county-by-county view to the Midwest regional radar and a national view — it’s all there.
School and business closings
When the weather gets a little dicey, schools and businesses may shut down. Monitor the latest list of closings, cancellations, and delays reported in southeast Wisconsin.
FOX6 Weather Experts in social media
Milwaukee, WI
Four new community-powered fridges open on Milwaukee’s North Side
Community members and city leaders celebrated the opening of four new community-powered fridges on the North Side of Milwaukee. A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held on Friday, Feb. 27, at Metcalfe Park Community Bridges, 3624 W. North Ave., to mark the occasion.
The effort to fight food scarcity by opening community-powered fridges comes after several grocery stores closed in the area, creating a food desert.
District 15 Ald. Russell W. Stamper II, who saw several grocery stores in his district close over the past few years, served as the event’s emcee.
“We could either complain about the problem, or we could come together to find a solution,” Stamper said.
In July 2025, a Pick ‘n Save on the North Side closed, prompting the opening of a community-powered fridge at Tricklebee Café in the Sherman Park and Uptown area. Since then, several other grocery stores have closed in the area.
This led Stamper, FEED MKE, Metcalfe Park Community Bridges and One MKE to open four more community-powered fridges.
Christie Melby-Gibbons, executive director of Tricklebee Café, talked about the organization’s community-powered fridge. About a week ago, the fridge was empty for the first time since its launch, so staff turned to their online community for support.
“Within 20 minutes, a woman came in with bags of food and filled the fridge for less than $100,” Melby-Gibbons said.
The community-powered fridge network is run by residents on a take-what-you-need, leave-what-you-can model. Taking a grassroots approach to solving food insecurity in the area, community members provide fresh produce and other healthy food options to ensure that their neighbors have access to nutritious foods.
“Everybody deserves to eat. I can’t go to sleep at night knowing my neighbors are hungry,” said Melody McCurtis, deputy director of Metcalfe Park Community Bridges.
Here’s a list of all the community-powered fridges:
Metcalfe Park Community Bridges
3624 W. North Ave.
Rooted & Rising- Washington Park
3940 W. Lisbon Ave.
Sherman Park Community Association
3526 W. Fond du Lac Ave.
Dominican Center
2470 W. Locust St.
Tricklebee Café
4424 W. North Ave.
Jonathan Aguilar is a visual journalist at Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service who is supported through a partnership between CatchLight Local and Report for America.
This article first appeared on Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Milwaukee, WI
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