The Milwaukee Bucks began NBA Cup group play on the right foot with a 126-110 win over the red-hot Chicago Bulls. The Bucks split the season series with Chicago a year ago, with the Bulls taking the last
game 116-111 back on December 28, 2024. The last time Milwaukee beat Chicago was on December 23 of the same year, 112-91. Read our full summary of the game here and catch a six-minute audio recap on the Bucks+ podcast, Bucks In Six Minutes, below.
Player Grades
Giannis Antetokoumpo
37 minutes, 41 points, 15 rebounds, 9 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocks, 16/32 FG, 1/3 3PT, 8/11 FT, +16
Coming into the fourth quarter, Giannis was shooting a rough 9/22 and 22 points. He exploded for 19 points on 7/10 shooting, helping the Bucks overpower the Bulls. A truly 1-of-1 player, Giannis is.
Grade: A
Myles Turner
31 minutes, 23 points, 7 rebounds, 4 steals, 8/13 FG, 5/8 3PT. +19
This was by far Myles Turner’s most effective offensive performance as a Buck, scoring a season high 23 points. Turner told the media that he spoke with Doc about changing how they use him, and it worked with flying colors. We’ll have to wait and see if this will be a consistent occurrence with Turner moving forward.
Grade: A
Ryan Rollins
31 minutes, 20 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals, 7/13 FG, 4/6 3PT, +11
After a rough couple of performances against the Pacers and Raptors, Rollins showed up in a big way against the Bulls. The shot was finally falling, and he played solid defense on Josh Giddey for most of the night. It was a good night for No. 13 in black.
Grade: A-
Gary Trent Jr.
23 minutes, 5 points, 3 rebounds, 2/9 FG, 1/5 3PT, -1
This kind of game happens from time to time for Trent. After scoring in double figures in a couple of games, he has an off night, scoring only five points and posting poor shooting numbers. They’ll need him to rebound for Sunday against the Rockets.
Grade: C-
AJ Green
35 minutes, 6 points, 5 assists, 4 rebounds, 2/8 3PT, +11
AJ Green was another three-point gunner who had a rough day shooting the ball, but unlike Trent, he found ways to contribute outside of that. Green had five assists and four rebounds, and was a plus defender, despite three early fouls.
Grade: B-
Bobby Portis
20 minutes, 7 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 3/5 FG, -1
This was a much better Bobby game, especially on the defensive end. He showed reasonable effort and contested some shots well. You would like more offense from him, and the -1 isn’t good, but it’s a step in the right direction for BP.
Grade: C+
Cole Anthony
22 minutes, 11 points, 5 assists, 2 rebounds, 5/14 FG, 1/5 3PT, +3
This grade could’ve been higher if not for the rough shot selection from Anthony last night. There were spots where he was settling for threes, but whenever he drove the lane, it was money.
Grade: B-
Kyle Kuzma
28 minutes, 11 points, 8 rebounds, 4/6 FG, +14
The Kyle Kuzma renaissance needs to be studied. After being unplayable a year ago with Milwaukee, he’s turned himself into what Dave Joeger calls a Swiss Army knife. Kuzma played in crunch time and helped spark the Bucks’ mid-quarter surge to put the game away in the fourth.
Grade: A-
Doc Rivers
The thing Bucks fans had been asking Doc to do finally came to fruition: he staggered Giannis and Turner. There were stretches where Turner would play alongside Bobby Portis and Jericho Sims, and others where Giannis was in place of Turner. With the lack of stops the bench was giving him, and not having Taurean Prince either, it was a necessary move that worked out well for Rivers and the Bucks.
Grade: A
Limited Minutes: Amir Coffey, Jericho Sims
DNP-CD: Andre Jackson Jr., Gary Harris, Thansis Antetokoumpo, Mark Sears, Pete Nance
Inactive: Kevin Porter Jr., Taurean Prince, Alex Antetokounmpo
Bonus Bucks Bits
- Giannis Antetokounmpo passed Kareem-Abdul Jabbar (55) for the most 40+ point games in franchise history, collecting his 56th career game reaching that point threshold.
- The Bucks improved to 7-0 in NBA Cup group play, and Darvin Ham remains undefeated in NBA Cup history. He joked in the locker room about making a personal three-peat for himself for NBA Cup titles, after winning with the Lakers in 2023 and the Bucks in 2024.
- Ryan Rollins talked about the impact that Rajon Rondo has had on him, with him being around a lot more than he was last season.
“How he views and reads the game. It’s different than how everybody else reads the game. Just learning from him and picking up on what he’s seeing and how he sees it. I think that’s the biggest part, so you just kind of learn and pick up on little details, which makes the biggest difference.”
The arrow keeps pointing up on Ryan Rollins after tonight. The former Toledo Rocket scored 20 points, marking his third time reaching that mark this season. During a career-best eight-game streak scoring in double figures, he’s averaging 17.6 points per game.
- Turner said that prior today’s game, he talked with the coaching staff to adjust how he was being used:
“I love shooting threes, I love spacing the floor, but it can’t be the only thing I do out there. I feel like I’m able to get on the rim and mix up my midrange as well. Just finding more ways to contribute.”
- Gary Trent Jr. with his three rebounds, reached over 1,000 career rebounds during the second quarter of tonight’s game.
Up Next
The Bucks will host the new-look Houston Rockets, featuring Kevin Durant, on Sunday for their second weekend matinee game of the season. Tip-off is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. Central time, and you can watch on FanDuel Sports Network Wisconsin.
