Bucks' Bobby Portis sparks a comeback for the ages in his first game back from suspension

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Bobby Portis made quite the impression in his return from a 25-game suspension.

He wants to create a similar impact all the way into the summer as the Milwaukee Bucks forward attempts to make up for all the time he missed.

“My only goal is to get to June,” Portis said after sparking the Bucks' rally from a 24-point, fourth-quarter deficit in a 110-103 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday. "How can we get to June? We haven’t been there in so long.”

Playing for the first time since the All-Star break after a positive test for the painkiller Tramadol caused his suspension, Portis had 18 points and 10 rebounds while helping the Bucks produce one of the greatest comebacks in franchise history.

According to Sportradar, this marked only the fifth time that a team has won a game it trailed by at least 24 points in the fourth quarter since 1996-97, which is when the NBA started tracking play-by-play data.

Portis' teammates credited him for the rally.

“We got our man back," guard Kevin Porter Jr. said. “Bobby, man, he gave us life.”

Portis made a steal that led to a basket that put Milwaukee ahead for good. After pulling down a rebound that led to his game-clinching free throws in the final minute, a raucous Fiserv Forum crowd chanted “Bobby,” continuing a ritual that started during the Bucks' 2021 title run.

“My first year playing for the Bucks in the 2020-21 season, when I first started getting the chants, it was like chills, right?” Portis said. “I ain’t had the chills since that moment, but now tonight, I felt it all over again. It was a very surreal moment for me.”

It was a triumphant moment in a trying year.

Portis already had dealt with the death of his grandmother and the burglary of his home before he learned about his suspension.

The 30-year-old forward has indicated he took Tramadol unintentionally. His agent, Mark Bartelstein, said Portis believed he was taking Toradol, which is approved and is something that he has taken before.

“Sometimes things just get thrown at you fast, and you have to be able to adapt,” Portis said. “One thing about the league — 10 years in, a decade in — every year tests you in a different way. Every game, every season tests you just different.”

Bucks coach Doc Rivers said that it was human nature for Portis to feel angry about the suspension initially because “you feel like you’ve been branded a cheater when you know you didn’t cheat.” Rivers said it probably took Portis “a couple of good weeks” to get over that.

“He was doing the work, but his spirit wasn’t Bobby,” Rivers said. “And I don’t know when that turned, but it definitely turned. I thought the workouts really helped him. As crazy as it sounds, card games on the plane helped him. Maybe he was winning. Maybe the guys were letting him win, who knows? But I thought all that stuff helped him. It takes a family sometimes to get through stuff, and I thought our guys really, really embraced him.”

Portis credited his support system, his teammates and the Bucks organization for helping him through the suspension and making him continue to feel like a part of the team.

“Sometimes when you're suspended, you might not feel you're a part of it,” Portis said. “There wasn't one day I was suspended that I didn't feel like I was part of the team. I felt like I was still here. I just couldn't play.”

Now he can play again, and his return gives the Bucks hope they can make a long postseason run regardless of their seeding.

Milwaukee is fifth in the Eastern Conference standings and almost certainly will open the playoffs away from home. Seven-time all-NBA guard Damian Lillard remains out indefinitely as he deals with blood clots in his calf that leave his playoff status uncertain.

But in his first game back, Portis showed just how much of a difference he can make.

“He's a guy who knows how to win games," two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo said. “You can always count on him to make big plays down the stretch, to get big stops, get rebounds. And his energy just helps the team.”

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Milwaukee Bucks' Bobby Portis warms up before an NBA basketball game against the Minnesota Timberwolves, Tuesday, April 8, 2025, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Aaron Gash)

Milwaukee Bucks' Bobby Portis, right, strips the ball from Minnesota Timberwolves' Rudy Gobert during the second half of an NBA basketball game Tuesday, April 8, 2025, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Aaron Gash)

Milwaukee Bucks' Bobby Portis yells to the crowd during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Minnesota Timberwolves, Tuesday, April 8, 2025, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Aaron Gash)

FILE - Milwaukee Bucks' Bobby Portis reacts during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Los Angeles Clippers Monday, March 4, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Morry Gash, File)

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Michigan overpowered Arizona early and humbled the ’Cats all night long, turning the Final Four meeting billed as the Game of the Year into a 91-73 Wolverines highlight reel Saturday night.

Junior center Aday Mara scored a career-high 26 points and had nine rebounds, a dinged-up Yaxel Lendeborg had 11 points in 14 minutes and the Blue blew through their fifth straight March Madness opponent by double digits while becoming the first team to break 90 points five times in a single tournament.

Next up, a title matchup Monday against UConn, a 71-62 winner over Illinois in the early semifinal that was billed — wrongly — as the undercard to this battle of No. 1 seeds.

Michigan and Arizona came in with the nation’s top two defenses, a pair of top-five offenses and somewhere between eight and a dozen NBA stars between them.

But it was the Wolverines (36-3) who looked like pros, running to a double-digit lead only 5:31 into the contest, then swatting and slamming Arizona into oblivion.

Koa Peat had a quiet 16 points and 11 rebounds for the Big 12 champion Wildcats (36-3). They shot 6 for 17 from 3, 36% overall and had two assists and nine turnovers over a first half that ended with them trailing 48-32. Sparkplug Jaden Bradley got his fourth foul 94 seconds into the second half and finished with 13 points, most in extended garbage time.

Arizona’s only two losses before this were by four and by three back in February. They trailed by nine less than 2:30 into this one.

Michigan packed the paint on defense, basically giving the team that averaged the fifth-fewest 3 attempts in the country this year free rein from long distance, then daring Arizona to create inside. The Wilcats failed at both.

Even more impressive for Michigan was that it started this runaway without (maybe) its best player, Lendeborg, who committed two fouls within five seconds of each other less than 90 seconds into the game, then landed on Motiejus Krivas’ foot a little later and went to the locker room for ice.

Lendeborg returned and made two quick 3s early in the second half to push the lead past 20. He was on the bench — and the stationary bike — for good with 7:10 left, plenty of time for rest and ice to get ready for UConn, which is going for its third title in four years.

Michigan is going for only the program’s second championship (1989), though its most famous team — the Fab Five, which made the final twice in the early ’90s — was in the building to helm an “alt-cast” of this Michigan celebration.

Some of this — the dunks, the alley-oops, the rim hanging and jersey tugging (but no baggy shorts) — might have reminded them of them.

Freshman Trey McKenny made four 3s and had 16 points for the Wolverines. Elliot Cadeau overcame a bout with his nut allergy to compile a crazy stat line: 13 points, 10 assists, six turnovers, five rebounds and four steals on 5-for-17 shooting. Even with that, Michigan finished 47.8% from the floor and 12 for 27 from 3.

About the only drama down the stretch was whether coach Dusty May’s team would join Jerry Tarkanian’s 1990 UNLV juggernaut as only the second team to hit triple digits at the Final Four in the modern era.

The Wolverines emptied the bench with a few minutes left and came up short, but no matter. Everybody knew who the better team was in this one — that it got figured out so early was the real shock.

AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness

Arizona's Koa Peat, right, hugs head coach Tommy Lloyd near the end of an NCAA college basketball tournament semifinal game against Arizona at the Final Four, Saturday, April 4, 2026, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

Michigan's Will Tschetter (42) and Elliot Cadeau (3) celebrate during the second half of an NCAA college basketball tournament semifinal game against Arizona at the Final Four, Saturday, April 4, 2026, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

Michigan's Elliot Cadeau reacts during the first half of an NCAA college basketball tournament semifinal game against Arizona at the Final Four, Saturday, April 4, 2026, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

Michigan guard Elliot Cadeau (3) celebrates a basket against Arizona during the second half of an NCAA college basketball tournament semifinal game at the Final Four, Saturday, April 4, 2026, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

Michigan center Aday Mara (15) dunks against Arizona during the second half of an NCAA college basketball tournament semifinal game at the Final Four, Saturday, April 4, 2026, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

Michigan's Aday Mara (15) reacts during the second half of an NCAA college basketball tournament semifinal game against Arizona at the Final Four, Saturday, April 4, 2026, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

Michigan's Nimari Burnett, left, and Will Tschetter (42) celebrate during the second half of an NCAA college basketball tournament semifinal game against Arizona at the Final Four, Saturday, April 4, 2026, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)