Kevin Porter Jr. shines while the dollars come from behind to beat the heat: “friend, can tend to”
Miami-Con just more than 30 seconds remaining in the extraordinary, Milwaukee Bucks La Guardia Kevin Porter Jr. brought the ball in the middle of the field with an advantage of two points. While Porter dripped in the right corner of the frontcourt, he looked through the floor up to Giannis Antetokounmpo, the last offensive player to cross the central line.
While Porter thought that the Buck would try to finish the game with him in a pick-and-rock with Antetokounmpo, the two-time MVP NBA had a different idea.
“He had the ball. He looked at me,” Antetokounmpo said after the game. “I said:” No. Take Brook (Lopez) in the pick-and-round and arrive in your place and make something happen. “”
While Porter directed the traffic from the right corner, Antetokounmpo did the same from the left corner. So, the top scorer of all the times of the Bucks looked from the left wing while the final addition of the commercial expiration of his team went to work with Lopez to try to close the Miami Heat.
Through an act of sphere magic, Porter divided a double team, so he launched himself into a highly contested fingers roll to give Milwaukee an advantage of four points with 10.8 seconds remaining in the extra period.
Too hard. 😤 pic.twitter.com/wk6tjjmraj
– Milwaukee Bucks (@bucks) April 6, 2025
“It’s so fun to watch, “said Lopez Di Porter.” Oh my God. The things he does when he is aggressive, he is going downhill, playing that pick-and-roll in transition. Those finishes. Damn, friend, he can tend. “
The incredible porter finish in the clutch was sufficient to give the Bucks the edge necessary to close a victory for 121-115 on the heat. Milwaukee (43-34) took the exclusive possession of the fifth place in the Eastern Conference ranking with the victory, and has a half-game advantage over the Detroit Pistons (43-35) while the team heads to New Orleans for the second back-to-back match against the Pelicans on Sunday.
“Lucky enough that I have been in those moments when one blow can win the game, or a game, so I only trusted my job, I trusted myself and I felt well and confident when I had confidence in my teammates to play the last play,” said Porter. “These are the moments we live for. I love being in those moments and I will take that shot every possibility I have.”
Porter was the star of Breakout of the game with 24 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists, but Antetokounmpo was back brilliant for the Bucks. In 43 minutes, Antetokounmpo scored 36 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists, putting it in the exclusive company of two large NBAs of all time. Saturday, Antetokounmpo joined Oscar Robertson and Wilt Chamberlain as the only players in the history of the NBA to put consecutive games with at least 35 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists.
While the metronomic game of Antetokounmpo put Milwaukee in position to win the match on Saturday in Miami, the strong Porter game in the fourth quarter and in the end gave dollars enough to get a victory to arrive.
With the seven-point team to open the fourth quarter, Porter fueled a 7-2 race that helped cut the heat into two points, and he did it while working in the game with two men with Antetokounmpo.
The Milwaukee coach, Doc Rivers, said that the post-gioco who attacked Porter to attach downhill on the edge-like made on the comedy above it was an emphasis for the 24-year-old guard.
Porter was a spectacular shooter of the middle band with the dollars, breaking down 55 percent on those sweaters, to clean the glass, but stop on the free shooting line and look for that shot effectively ends any game that the team is running. Rivers said he believes that there is more well to find to get to the edge.
“We need someone to go downhill,” said Antetokounmpo. “I feel that there are some comedies that is able to do it downhill and stop around the elbow. And I am like, ‘Ah, continue! As if I could go all the way.’ And sometimes there is that it goes all the way and it is incredible.
“He has to continue reading the comedy. Every time he is there, you have to take it because he is really good. He is an excellent finite. And if he does not end, he will probably be called for a foul. But we trust his decision -making process and every time he is under control, he is very good for our team and makes the right game.”
As the game proceeded, Porter continued to attack downhill, creating problems for the defense of heat. Simple games, such as pushing the ball up for the transition floor, led to easy looks for its teammates with Porter who constantly tried to attack.
With the dollars of five with just over two remaining minutes, Porter took a rebound and created an opportunity for Antetokounmpo to attack in semi-transition, which led to a 3 per Porter.
While Antetokounmpo tried to create something late in the clock in the extraordinary, Porter went in position to take an offensive rebound on an attempt by 3 points in Lopez and then made a difficult bucket to tie the game.
When Taurean Prince committed an incoming error the ball some possessions later, Porter hastened to defend and led to a 50-50 ball when Prince compensated for his mistake with a theft. That overflow game allowed him to find antetokounmpo that tightened along the floor for a dunk to give Milwaukee a late advantage.
I steal and bang for the command! pic.twitter.com/agaqes8dxy
– Milwaukee Bucks (@bucks) April 6, 2025
“When I arrive downhill, it opens to everyone, including myself, so I just have to do this point every game,” said Porter. “Many units. Many units and kicks and this is what helps our offense flow and I will try to make it do every night.”
Since he joined the Bucks, Porter has crossed some ups and downs while he tried to find his way, playing different roles while the team has faced various injuries and absences. But he gave them exactly what they needed on Saturday and his strong performance helped them to get a fought road victory to maintain their positive momentum with a week left in the regular season.
(Photo: Brennan Asplen / Gettyemes)
