Bucks vs. Jazz Player Grades: You like jazz?

SALT LAKE CITY, UT - MARCH 19: Ryan Rollins #13 of the Milwaukee Bucks dribbles the ball during the game against the Utah Jazz on March 19, 2026 at Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, User is co

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What is the story about?

The Milwaukee Bucks played what was definitely their worst game of this season, getting blown out by the 20-48 Utah Jazz, 128-96. Along with their play itself, this was also the team’s worst game from a body language standpoint, and that’s saying a lot. The Jazz, who, make no mistake, are going to extreme lengths to lose, simply couldn’t suck as much as the Bucks, no matter what they tried. Yikes. Read our full summary of the game here and catch a six-minute audio recap on the Bucks+ podcast, Bucks In

Six Minutes, below.

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Player Grades

Ryan Rollins

23 minutes, 15 points, 3 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 turnovers 5/10 FG, 3/7 3P, -14

Was decently efficient, but unable to make much impact as a primary playmaker.

Grade: C-

Myles Turner

18 minutes, 3 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 4 turnovers, 1/3 FG, 1/3 3P, -12

Maybe the worst game from Turner all season? Completely irrelevant all game on both ends. I hesitate to use the word “soft” these days, but this was pretty soft from the big man. Couldn’t assert any will on the game against dudes who, let’s be honest, are not even close to being NBA centres.

Grade: F

Kyle Kuzma

19 minutes, 11 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 3 turnovers, 3/7 FG, 0/2 3P, –19

Got out in transition a few times, but same as Turner: irrelevant.

Grade: D-

AJ Green

11 minutes, 0 points, 0/4 FG, 0/4 3P, -13

Had multiple bad mistakes on defence as an off-ball defender, and couldn’t find his shot either. Been a rough stretch for AJ.

Grade: D-

Ousmane Dieng

24 minutes, 13 points, 5/7 FG, 3/4 3P, -27

Hit open shots, but made very little impact as a passer (apart from one nice skip pass). Also got dominated a few times by physical defenders. Being physical is going to keep popping up on the scouting report for those defending Ous until he proves he can beat it.

Grade: C

Bobby Portis

23 minutes, 11 points, 6 rebounds, 4/12 FG, 1/4 3P, -17

Made some early impact, but this was one of the few games this year where Bobby looked like the player he has been in seasons past. Looked slow and lethargic on both ends, getting blown by more than his standard this year. Also got beasted by Andersson Garcia way too many times on the boards; this was Garcia’s fifth game.

Grade: C-

Pete Nance

13 minutes, 0 points, 0/2 FG, 0/1 3P, -14

Nothing from a bloke who usually finds a way to make an impact on some level. That said, he didn’t get any real run until the fourth quarter, making it tough to find a rhythm.

Grade: F

Jericho Sims

17 minutes, 2 points, 3 rebounds, 1/1 FG, -9

Jericho feeds off others making plays for him, and so when the likes of Rollins, Kuzma, and Dieng don’t produce in that area, it has a negative impact on Sims.

Grade: D+

Cam Thomas

22 minutes, 14 points, 4 assists, 5 turnovers, 5/11 FG, 1/3 3P, -20

Cam’s stat line doesn’t look too bad, but I actually thought he was pretty horrendous from a process standpoint. His turnovers were ghastly. Plus, he didn’t play a lick of defence.

Grade: D+

Taurean Prince

16 minutes, 6 points, 2/5 FG, 2/5 3P, -4

I’d apply much of my “critique” for Sims—that his player type only works if the playmakers do their job—to Prince. That said, he did make a smooth self-created corner three.

Grade: C-

Gary Trent Jr.

17 minutes, 4 points, 1/5 FG, 1/5 3P, +0

GT just couldn’t hit shots, but he took the right ones. Was clearly trying to show the coaches that he was fighting like all hell on defence, though, which I appreciated.

Grade: C-

Doc Rivers

Part of me feels like the players came out with no want to play with any sort of intensity, and that’s not on Doc. But the number of guys the Jazz played who simply weren’t NBA players (or were fringe players at best)… you simply have to find ways to assert your dominance over them. I don’t recall Turner getting one look in the post against a 10-day guy. Advantages like these were almost never exploited, and that falls on the coach.

Grade: D

Garbage Time: Gary Harris, Thanasis Antetokounmpo, Cormac Ryan, Andre Jackson Jr.

Inactive: Giannis Antetokounmpo, Kevin Porter Jr., Alex Antetokounmpo

Bonus Bucks Bits

Bless Lisa and Marques… they tried their hardest to keep the vibe at least somewhat upbeat.
We got our first look at Cormac Ryan, who scored on his first NBA shot attempt (a three, of course).
Ace Bailey was a flamethrower, dropping a career-high 33 on 7/17 from three. That’s a lot of threes.
The experience of watching your team get blown out by a tanking team is truly unique. I mean, the Jazz were already tanking hard, but I want to say Will Hardy gave it an extra push at one point by subbing out all of the best players who were playing all at once, but it quickly became evident that the Bucks were just too bad on the night for Utah to steal the L.
Just flagging that the Pelicans—having won consecutive games against the Clippers over the last two days—are now just four games “ahead” of the Bucks in the tank standings.