Former Cavaliers draft pick propels all-time comeback for East rival

The Cleveland Cavaliers were rooting against the Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday night.

First, the Cavaliers took down the Chicago Bulls to officially lock in the No. 1 overall seed. It was a good night. It would have been even better if the Bucks lost to the Minnesota Timberwolves, putting them within one game of falling to the sixth place -- and thus out of the Cavaliers' side of the playoff bracket.

No one wants to see Giannis Antetokounmpo in the playoffs, and if Damian Lillard can return and Brook Lopez is healthy planting his mountainous self in the paint they cannot be completely dismissed as a playoff foe. Therefore, when the Bucks fell behind by 24 points in the 4th quarter it seemed like a done deal they would pick up the loss.

Then the switch flipped. The Bucks started marching back, causing turnovers and missed shots and hitting all number of shots themselves. A 24-point deficit became smaller and smaller until the Bucks came all the way back, ultimately winning by seven points. It was a 31-point swing, in total a 39-8 run to end the game. It was the largest 4th-quarter comeback in Bucks franchise history and the largest in the NBA in 20 years.

And at the center of it? A former Cavaliers draft pick once left for dead.

Kevin Porter Jr. keyed the epic comeback

The Cleveland Cavaliers drafted Kevin Porter Jr. with the last pick in the first round back in 2019, a lottery talent who fell in the draft due to behavior and character concerns. Those concerns reared their heads early, and it's why Porter was outright dumped by Cleveland, then again by the Houston Rockets after he had rebuild his career.

The LA Clippers gave him a shot to start this season, but his shot wouldn't fall and he looked ot be on his last legs. The Milwaukee Bucks traded for him seemingly as a flier -- an inexpensive chance at getting some shot creation for their bench.

Porter has absolutely exploded for the Bucks -- he's not averaging 19 points per game as he did in his best season for the Rockets, but he has reinvented himself as an all-around impact player for Milwaukee, passing and rebounding and scoring and excelling in his role.

Just last week he scored 24 points in an overtime win over the Miami Heat, including the game-sealing bucket in overtime. The next game he scored 20 points to help a Bucks team playing without Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard to win in New Orleans.

Then came Tuesday night, when Porter found himself on the court when the Bucks went down by 24 points. Then the comeback began.

Porter was everywhere; in the final 10 minutes of the game, encompassing the 34-3 run to take the lead, he played every second and racked up 12 points, three rebounds, two assists and an eye-popping four steals. He had an incredible sequence where he dunked, then stole the ball and dunked again -- all in 24 seconds.

In total, Porter Jr. scored 21 points on 6-for-9 shooting and 9-for-9 from the line, adding in five assists and five steals. No player in the NBA this season has had five steals and nine made free throws coming off the bench. It was a great moment for a player who is literally breathing life into his own NBA career.

The Cavaliers don't regret moving on from Porter; the problem was never his talent and always the intangibles. Whatever Porter has gone through, whatever lessons he has learned, his career is finally coalescing over the past few months. Still only 24 years old, he may just have a chance to reset and become a long-term NBA player after all.

And the comeback win means that Cleveland may just have to face not only two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo, but perhaps breakout former Cavalier Kevin Porter Jr. as well.