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Bobby Portis made his Washington Wizards debut on Friday at home against the Cleveland Cavaliers, and it’s safe to say he made a big impact.
Bobby Portis scored a whopping 30 points off the bench in 27 minutes to help the Wizards defeat Cleveland by a final score of 119-106.
By scoring 30, Portis became the first player since Jerry Stackhouse back in 1997 to score at least 30 points off the bench in a debut with a team.
Bobby Portis came off the bench to score 30 points in his @WashWizards debut tonight.
He's the first NBA player to score 30+ points off the bench in his debut with a team since Jerry Stackhouse did so in his Pistons debut on 12/19/1997 at Indiana (33 points).#DCFamily
— OptaSTATS (@OptaSTATS) February 9, 2019
Portis shot 12-of-18 from the field, 4-of-6 from beyond the arc and 2-of-2 from the free-throw line. The big man also grabbed six rebounds and dished out two assists.
The 23-year-old Portis will become a restricted free agent in the summer, and it’s pretty clear he wants to get paid. If he continues to play like he did on Friday, the Arkansas native is going to get money from someone in the offseason.
With the win against the Cavs, the Wizards improved to 23-32 on the season. Washington is now in the 10th spot in the Eastern Conference standings.
The additions of Portis and Jabari Parker from the Chicago Bulls are definitely going to help the Wizards make a late playoff push. Parker didn’t score 30 points like Portis, but the former No. 2 overall pick did rack up seven points, 11 rebounds and nine assists.