LAS VEGAS — The last time the Milwaukee Bucks visited this chilly desert in the winter, veteran big man Bobby Portis caused a spike in temperature all by himself.

A mid-December loss to Indiana in the in-season tournament semifinal left him hot and bothered afterward, upset about the massive gap that existed between the team the Bucks actually were and the one he believed they ought to be. All the hype that had surrounded the pairing of Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard the previous September, and the expectations that came with being a purported title contender, had been followed by an unreliable brand of Bucks basketball that left Portis quite displeased. So he shared his frustrations inside the Bucks locker room afterward, letting then-coach Adrian Griffin and his teammates know they simply had to be better. The story leaked.

Fast-forward a year, and Portis was sitting at his locker inside the same T-Mobile Arena building where their last Las Vegas stay had come to an unwelcome early end. Only this time, with the Bucks having downed Atlanta 110-102 in their NBA Cup semifinal, his disposition was quite different.

“Me and my family were just talking about that,” Portis said with a smile when asked if that evening last year had crossed his mind heading into this game. “It went viral, man. It was everywhere. But everything I do is for the good. I’ve been a leader my whole life. Just because you make it to the NBA and there’s guys (on your team) who are top 75 on your team doesn’t stop you from being a leader.

“The message was, ‘We need to get better at late-game execution.  We need to get better down the stretch. We need to know what the f— we’re doing down the stretch, have guys in the right spots, so we can get a good shot. The last five, six minutes is winning time.’”

It was quite apropos, then, that these Bucks used that very game plan to advance to the Tuesday championship game against Oklahoma City.

Milwaukee outscored Atlanta 14-7 down the stretch, with Antetokounmpo taking over like only he can. His block on Clint Capela with 2:37 left was just silly, and eerily reminiscent of the epic DeAndre Ayton stuff from the 2021 NBA Finals against Phoenix. It was his fourth and final block of the evening, to go with 32 points, 14 rebounds and nine assists. He had eight points and five boards during that span of 5:18 in which Milwaukee pulled away.

Better late than never, they’re looking like contenders again. Since their 2-8 start, the Bucks have won 12 of their last 15 games while posting top 10 marks in both offensive and defensive rating (10th and eighth, respectively).

“I don’t think we ever left,” Portis said of the Bucks’ title-contender status. “The record was what it was. We needed a little bit of straightening, a little bit of practice, a little bit of camaraderie and togetherness. We added some new faces, came in rusty a little bit, didn’t play our best basketball. … That’s why it’s called an 82-game season. It’s not a 10-game season.”

Doc Rivers couldn’t agree more.

When the Bucks coach made his way through the media masses after practice on Friday, this reporter mentioned the drastic difference between this Bucks team and the one we’d seen in those first few weeks.

“Oh, you didn’t think we would (turn it around)?” he said with a laugh.

Rivers deserves credit for leading the way. By all accounts, he was the steadiest voice in the room when the losses kept piling up. All those rival teams started to salivate about the prospect of Antetokounmpo eventually wanting out, with the struggles threatening to undercut all the good vibes they’d had in training camp, yet he took the sort of long view that has clearly paid off.

Make no mistake, Milwaukee still has plenty left to prove. It’s one thing to crawl out of the cellar and back to high-level respectability, and quite another to convince the masses that you can get the best of elite squads like Boston, Cleveland or … Oklahoma City.

Yet for all the wisdom behind Portis’ message a year ago, the more obvious truth about the Bucks is that Giannis’ greatness is still their north star. And while the combination of Nikola Jokić’s transcendence and the Bucks’ horrific start muted the MVP conversation that typically involves Antetokounmpo, the time has long since come for the spotlight to be returned to that familiar place.

For everything the 30-year-old has accomplished in regular seasons past — two MVPs, one Defensive Player of the Year honor, eight All-Star berths and the like — he’s on pace to make this one his best. Antetokounmpo is averaging 32.7 points, 11.5 rebounds, 6.1 assists and 1.6 blocks — marks that have never been reached in the history of the game. The same is true of Jokić, of course, as he’s averaging 31.5 points, 13.3 rebounds and 9.8 assists. Antetokounmpo’s defensive prowess, potentially, could be the difference-maker if it comes down to these two.

The Lillard experience, meanwhile, has taken far more patience than they’d hoped. But this past month has been a long-awaited showcase of how special they can be together. Lillard, who had 25 points, seven assists and six rebounds against Atlanta, is one of just three players who are averaging at least 25 points and seven assists this season.

“It takes time,” Antetokounmpo said. “You know, I feel like a lot of people had such high expectations from us on day one to be the best duo to ever play this game. But it takes time. Now it’s our second year playing together. We are more comfortable with one another, know one another’s spots better. And as you see, our chemistry has been getting way, way better. Down the stretch … we feel very, very comfortable we can both get to our spots and be more effective when we play that two main game this year.”

Just like Portis drew it up.