Bobby Portis was thrown out early in Game 4

If there’s a day that Milwaukee Bucks fans would prefer to move on from, it’d be Sunday. The team lost a crucial Game 4 against the Indiana Pacers to go down 3-1 in their opening-round playoff series. To make things worse, Bobby Portis was ejected early in the game. With five minutes remaining in the first quarter, Portis and Pacers guard Andrew Nembhard got tangled up underneath the basket. This resulted in shoving between the two and a strike from Portis on Nembhard’s head.

 

The fiery forward was eventually sent out of the playing court, much to the dismay of the shorthanded Bucks. Following the game, head coach Doc Rivers had this to say about the ejection:

“It was a tough break for us, no doubt about that,” Rivers said, per The Athletic’s Eric Nehm. “Doesn’t matter how long you’re in the league, you can still learn — all of us can. I thought it will probably be a lesson for Bobby and for all of us, for our young guys. Playoff games are high emotion. They really are. So that happened, and you can’t get it back once it happened.”

What made Portis’ ejection more frustrating for the Bucks was how the team entered the game without the services of their superstars, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard. Antetokounmpo has been sidelined the entire series with a calf strain while Lillard was ruled out for Game 4 due to an Achilles injury.

The Bucks fall on Sunday

Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports
The absence of Milwaukee’s top players, in addition to Bobby Portis’ ejection, resulted in a third-quarter breakaway from the Pacers. While the Bucks were able to hang on and keep the game close until halftime, Indiana eventually amassed a double-digit lead.

The Bucks rallied early in the fourth, cutting the deficit down to single digits. However, the Pacers responded by bringing the lead back up again. Indiana led by as much as 19 points in the final period.

Brook Lopez led the Bucks’ scoring with 27 points while Khris Middleton added 25 points and 10 rebounds.

The 126-113 loss puts Milwaukee a game away from elimination. Still, a 3-1 deficit isn’t dampening Doc Rivers’ spirit anytime soon. The coach commended his team’s effort, emphasizing how he loved the Bucks’ self-belief.

“Our guys were playing their hearts out,” Rivers added. “They really were. I loved that our team, no matter what anyone thought, they believed they could win this game and it shows a lot about this basketball team. And what I loved about it most was how they were disappointed that they didn’t win the game. This is a great group to coach, I’m telling you. I know we have a lot of stuff going on, just clutter, injuries, but man, I’m loving this team every second that I’m with them. And today is another example of that.”

Rivers and the Bucks will have one more chance to stave off elimination on Monday.