A sneaky part of the Bucks’ now-dead hot streak that Kevin Porter Jr. and Ryan Rollins seemingly clicked better together than earlier in the season. During Giannis’ last injury layoff in December, Doc Rivers talked about how he preferred to split the two up: “I like [Rollins] and Scoot together when Giannis plays. But when Giannis doesn’t play, I don’t like him and Scoot together. We need that separation.” During Milwaukee’s eight-wins-in-10-game stretch, they were +4.8 in net with that duo on the floor.
Prior to then, they were +3.3. Here’s what Doc said about them on Sunday:
“In the games we play well, that means they play well together, that the ball was moving, they were getting downhill, making plays. In the games we struggle, that means the ball was usually stuck in those two guys’ hands. You don’t have that problem as much with Giannis, obviously.“
Doc also thought that Rollins’ improvement as a facilitator and a playmaker over the last month was a big reason for the combo’s newfound success. Well, sure enough, Rollins was the one benched last night as the Bucks moved away from the three-guard starting lineup. To be fair, Rollins has had a rough go of it over the last few games, particularly with regard to turnovers, averaging 4.0 per game since February 1st.
In this week’s Tuesday Tracker, we want your opinion on the starting backcourt and small forward spot now that Giannis is back. Let’s also see how much your projected playoff seeding for Milwaukee has changed over the past couple weeks.
As always, this poll will be open until midnight Central on Friday, and we’ll post the results later that day. Thanks for voting!
