It was a spooky night at Fiserv Forum, with Giannis Antetokounmpo being declared out 45 minutes before tip-off for the Milwaukee Bucks against the Golden State Warriors. Despite that scare, the Bucks got
the treat of their fourth win of the season by a score of 120-110, thanks to a career day from Ryan Rollins. This was the Bucks’ first win against the Dubs since January 13, 2024, after Golden State had won the previous three meetings. 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
Myles Turner
29 minutes, 17 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 7/12 FG, 3/6 3P, -4
The Myles Turner offensive breakout finally happened after slumping some during the first four games of the year. He hit some timely shots and played his typical stellar defense, helping the Bucks close out the Dubs.
Grade: A-
Ryan Rollins
36 minutes, 32 points, 8 assists, 13/21 FG, 5/7 3P, +8
What a diamond in the rough Rollins has turned into after being cut by the Wizards some years ago. Rollins did an excellent job defending Stephen Curry all night, in a string of defensive performances this week against Donovan Mitchell, Jalen Brunson, and Curry.
Grade: A+
Gary Trent Jr.
30 minutes, 13 points, 3 assists, 4 steals, 4/14 FG, 2/7 3P, -1
It was a rough night in spots for Trent, feeling like he was forcing some shots and taking them too early. Despite that, he had a huge steal from Curry to help the Bucks seal the win, and did enough on offense to stay on the floor.
Grade: B-
AJ Green
33 minutes, 10 points, 3/7 3P, +4
The bag is certainly being developed for AJ Green in terms of his scoring methods. He isn’t just the catch-and-shoot guy anymore, hitting a side step three in the corner and even burying a step-back three over the 6’9” Al Horford.
Grade: B
Bobby Portis
18 minutes, 12 points, 5 rebounds, 5/10 FG, 2/3 3P, +14
Turner wasn’t the only Bucks center to break out of their offensive slump, as Portis had his best offensive day. At one point during the second quarter, he was a perfect 3/3 from the field with eight points. While BP tailed off a bit from there, he quietly had a good defensive night on the interior and finished with the best plus/minus on the team.
Grade: B+
Cole Anthony
21 minutes, 16 points, 3 turnovers, 6 fouls, 7/15 FG, 2/7 3P, +6
Cole Anthony signing for a minimum continues to look more and more like daylight robbery with each passing game. While Anthony did foul out, he led the Bucks’ second unit and played well alongside Rollins.
Grade: B+
Kyle Kuzma
35 minutes, 10 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 4/10 FG, 1/4 3P, +10
Kyle Kuzma buying into his role has reaped major rewards for the Bucks this season. After being inserted into the starting lineup last night, he still played the same game as if he was coming off the bench: doing enough offensively while providing good value on the defensive end.
Grade: B
Taurean Prince
18 minutes, 10 points, 3/6 FG, 1/4 3P, +11
Being able to have a player like Prince off the bench, rather than relying on him as a starter, is a great asset for this Bucks team. I feel like a broken record when I say that Prince comes in, shoots efficiently, and plays solid defense, leading to the Bucks’ second-highest plus-minus of +11.
Grade: B+
Amir Coffey
13 minutes, 0 points, 0/1 FG, +7
Not much to say about Coffey today. He didn’t do much offensively, but as another NBA body who can play solid defense, he is always good to have.
Grade: C-
Doc Rivers
I heavily criticized Rivers on Tuesday for some of the rotations he used against the Knicks, but tonight is a different story. Learning that he didn’t have his best player available less than an hour before tip-off and pushing all the right buttons against a Western Conference contender, it was a standout day for Doc.
Grade: A
Limited Minutes: Gary Harris
DNP-CD: Andre Jackson Jr, Jericho Sims, Mark Sears, Pete Nance, Thanasis Antetokounmpo
Inactive: Giannis Antetokoumpo, Kevin Porter Jr., Alex Antetokounmpo
Bonus Bucks Bits
- Doc Rivers didn’t have much of an update about why Giannis was out for last night’s game. He only said that the training staff told him that GA was out and that he hadn’t had a chance to ask since that point.
- Rivers commented on the game for Rollins, praising his and the team’s overall toughness:
“He’s just tough, he’s a tough kid, man. We have a team full of tough guys, resilient, maybe it’s a better word, they just keep coming. I felt like the only way we could win was with extreme pace; we wanted to outpace them (the Warriors). Everyone contributed; this was just a tremendous team win.”
- Cole Anthony was a bit more concise with his assessment of Rollins’ game: “He’s a hooper.”
- I asked Rollins about the team’s dog mentality and how that developed:
“We kind of realized it the first couple of days of training camp, even before that, in the open runs we had before preseason. We have a lot of people that can put the ball in the hoop, a lot of people who are dogs and compete, play fast, play the right way, and that’s just big for us. When that’s the case, everybody is going to have a chance to eat, and that’s kind of been our motto since the jump. It’s going to be somebody’s night every night.”
- In addition to Rollins’ career scoring performance, he had a team-high eight assists. He’s now averaging a career-high five assists per game in five games this season.
- AJ Green officially crossed the 1,000 point mark in his career, with those 10 points tonight. He now has a total of 1,096 points in his young NBA career.
- The Bucks had eight players score in double figures for the first time since their championship season.
Up Next
The Milwaukee Bucks finish out their three-game homestand with an earlier start on Saturday against the Sacramento Kings. Tip-off is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. Central from Fiserv Forum, and you can catch all the action on FanDuel Sports Network Wisconsin.
