The Milwaukee Bucks were already playing shorthanded Sunday in Game 4 of their Eastern Conference first-round series against the Indiana Pacers, only for some controversial officiating to make things even worse for them.
Bucks center Bobby Portis was ejected in the first quarter after getting tangled up with Indiana’s Andrew Nembhard following a play. Portis received two technical fouls for what the officials deemed to be two hostile acts.
Portis & Nembhard exchanging shoves pic.twitter.com/W6ZDB9JXNE
— CJ Fogler 🫡 (@cjzero) April 28, 2024
The decision to eject Portis was immediately controversial. Tossing a player for what some saw as two shoves in the first quarter of a playoff game was seen by some as excessive. Sam Amick of The Athletic also suggested that Portis’ second shove was prompted by Nembhard coming after him.
And we just gonna ignore the fact that Bobby's "second act" came as Nembhard was coming his way in reaction to the shove? I don't like that ejection at all. https://t.co/0XV85kjzzy
— Sam Amick (@sam_amick) April 28, 2024
On the other hand, one could certainly argue that Portis had to know the situation. His team was already down two key players, and he and Nembhard got tangled up pretty innocently. There did not appear to be any reason for that to devolve into a shoving match, and one could also argue that Portis took a swing close to Nembhard’s head on his second act.
The Bucks are trying to avoid falling behind 3-1 to Indiana with both Damian Lillard and Giannis Antetokounmpo sidelined by injuries. Their roster without Portis gets even thinner. Pacers fans will not mind, however, especially since Portis made himself a villain to them earlier in the series.
