Fortis perfectly filled Janis’ absence.
The Milwaukee Bucks won 140-129 against the Phoenix Sons in the 2023-2024 NBA regular season at the Milwaukee Five Forum on the 18th (Korea time).
Milwaukee failed to play due to Janis Antetokounmpo, the core of the offense and defense, due to a bad left hamstring, but Bradley Beal beat Phoenix and won the victory.
Damian Lillard, who recorded a double-double with 31 points, five rebounds and 16 assists, achieved 30 points and 15 assists in a game for the first time in franchise history, also stood out, but there was another player who performed the most impressive performance of the day.
It is Milwaukee’s six-man Bobby Portis, who scored the most points in one game this season.
Fortis, who stayed on the court for 29 minutes and 48 seconds, helped his team win by completing a double-double with 31 points and 10 rebounds, including five three-point shots. The field goal success rate reached 65.0% (13/20), and the shooting sense was so good that he did not miss a single shot by trying five 3-point shots.
Fortis scored 25 points in the first half of the day alone, contributing greatly to Milwaukee’s 22-point lead through the second quarter. It was the most scored by a player who played on the bench in this season’s first half.
Fortis, who has been playing for Milwaukee since the 2020-2021 season, has been a key bench member for Milwaukee this season with an average of 13.4 points and 7.1 rebounds, 50.4% of field throws and 39.3% of three-point shots.
In particular, he boasts the hottest scoring pace this season with an average of 16.8 points and 8.4 rebounds, 53.8% field-throwing success rate and 45.8% three-point shooting success rate in eight games in March.
Milwaukee, ranked second in the Eastern Conference, slowly began to adapt to the coach Doc Rivers’ system, went 44 wins and 24 losses this season, widening its gap with third-place Cleveland to 1.5 games.
Milwaukee deserves to emerge as Boston’s opponent in the playoffs if Fortis can keep his current performance steady.