The Milwaukee Bucks come into the stretch run of the NBA season fifth in the Eastern Conference at 29-24, one game ahead of Detroit for sixth and one game behind Indiana for fourth.
That means the final 29 games of the regular season will be huge for Milwaukee as they try to land a top-4 seed and a homecourt advantage in the first round — and to avoid falling to sixth and having to face the Knicks or (less likely) the Celtics. The Bucks are already a team that is lacking a bit in the depth department, but they will now have to navigate much of the second half of the regular season without a key contributor.
That is because Bobby Portis, who is averaging 13.7 points and 8.2 rebounds per game in 46 appearances this season, has been suspended for 25 games for violating the league’s anti-drug policy. As is always the case with a suspension like this, Portis and his camp are claiming it was an accident According to Portis’ agent, the suspension is for taking the banned substance Tramadol when he thought he was taking Toradol (an approved painkiller) before a game and that they are disappointed the league is enforcing the policy so strictly.
In any case, Portis will now miss all but the final four games of the regular season for the Bucks, putting increased pressure on an already thin Bucks frontcourt rotation to hold up and keep Milwaukee in the 4/5 game in the East.