Bobby Portis says the Milwaukee Bucks' return to the NBA Cup semi-finals is "more special" given their difficult start to the season.

The Bucks will head to Las Vegas for a second successive season after beating the Orlando Magic 114-109 at Fiserv Forum.

Portis scored 22 points on nine-of-11 shooting from the bench, as Milwaukee continued their resurgence, having gone 2-8 at the start of their campaign.

However, an unbeaten NBA Cup group stage has followed, and the power forward is excited by the belief surrounding his team-mates.

"Last year, there were a lot of expectations on our team," he said. "It's more special in that regard because of where we started to where we are now.

"I like the makeup of our team right now. I like the swag and confidence everybody's playing with. I like the camaraderie, how it keeps getting better on a game-to-game basis."

The Bucks have now won nine of their last 11 games, and Damian Lillard saluted the resilience of the franchise.

"We just stayed connected. We kept fighting - and that's a hard thing to do when you're struggling and expected to be winning, and people are talking about your team.

"It takes a connected group to be able to bounce back and come out of that, and get where we've got."

Goodnight. pic.twitter.com/wb2bMfuU11

— Milwaukee Bucks (@Bucks) December 11, 2024