Bucks Vs. Cavaliers Player Grades: Porter’s Clutch Jumper Squeaks Milwaukee Past Cleveland

The Milwaukee Bucks notched back-to-back wins against Eastern Conference playoff teams, taking down the Cleveland Cavaliers, who were without James Harden, Donovan Mitchell, and Evan Mobley, in a tightly contested 118-116 finish. The victory also breaks Cleveland’s seven-game winning streak over Milwaukee, dating back to January 26, 2024. 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

Ryan Rollins

35 minutes, 18 points, 9 assists, 3 rebounds, 8/13 FG, 2/6 3P, +12

Kenny Atkinson called out Rollins’ improved passing pre-game, and he was proven correct. Made some exceptional reads and came up with a couple of clutch layups near the end. 

Grade: A

Kevin Porter Jr.

38 minutes, 20 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists, 5 steals, 1 block, 10/16 FG, +7

This is the best KPJ has looked as a Buck. He was crashing the glass; he isn’t turning it over as much, and he’s becoming a late-game closer. That mid-range jumper to put Milwaukee up two with 20 seconds to go was exceptional. 

Grade: A

AJ Green

38 minutes, 15 points, 2 assists, 1 rebound, 5/10 3P, +15

The real AJ Green finally stood back up. Doc Rivers told us pre-game that he got after Green for not taking a shot in the first half against Miami, and clearly the message got across. Green took the first shot of the game for the Bucks and was aggressive from there on out. 

Grade: B+

Kyle Kuzma

26 minutes, 17 points, 5 assists, 4 rebounds, 1 block, 6/14 FG, 5/10 3P, +5

Kuzma has found a rhythm from beyond the arc in his last two games. Shooting 32.5% from range this season, he’s shot 8/17 (47.1%) against Miami and Cleveland. Not saying this is sustainable, but the Bucks will take these types of performances from Kuz. 

Grade: A-

Myles Turner

24 minutes, 15 points, 3 rebounds, 1 block, 1 steal, 6/9 FG, 3/5 3P, +5

Despite scoring nine of his 15 points in the first half, Turner was not playing well. He was getting beaten on the glass by Allen and just looked slow. He seemed to find his legs in the second half, grabbing all three of his rebounds. 

Grade: B-

Bobby Portis

21 minutes, 10 points, 5 rebounds, 4/8 FG, 2/4 3P, -4

While it’s a lower-scoring output than Tuesday night, this was still a solid Bobby game. He didn’t force any bad shots and helped clean up the defensive glass. 

Grade: B

Cam Thomas

16 minutes, 7 points, 2 assists, 1 rebound, 2 turnovers, 3/6 FG, 1/2 3P, -13

Thomas had very similar games in this back-to-back. He had a nice scoring run when he first checked in, but didn’t find the bottom of the basket after that. Also, it was a bad look when Thomas appeared to complain about being taken out in the fourth quarter. 

Grade: C-

Jericho Sims

29 minutes, 11 points, 11 rebounds, 2 assists, 5/6 FG, 1/2 FT, -5

I was wrong when I said on Sunday that the Sims hype train was over. Every time he came into the game, the Bucks looked much better on the glass. Just a fantastic game for Sims. 

Grade: A

Ousmane Dieng

13 minutes, 5 points, 2 assists, 1/6 3P, 2/2 FT, -12

It was a fairly quiet night for Dieng. He had a three-pointer and had a nice pass to Myles Turner for a dunk. Outside of that, it was a game to forget.

Grade: C-

Doc Rivers

Credit has to go to Doc for running with Sims as much as he did. I would’ve liked to see more of Sims and Turner together, but he made some solid adjustments, limiting the Cavs to 37 shot attempts in the second half (they had 50 in the first).

Grade: B-

DNP-CD: Thanasis Antetokounmpo, Gary Harris, Gary Trent Jr., Andre Jackson Jr., Pete Nance

Inactive: Alex Antetokounmpo, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Taurean Prince

Bonus Bucks Bits

• Donovan Mitchell, Evan Mobley, and James Harden all sat this one out for Cleveland. Harden has a broken thumb. Despite playing on Tuesday night, Mitchell missed due to a right groin strain, and Mobley—who also played Tuesday—was out due to left calf injury maintenance.
• Two of the Bucks’ major sticking points this season have been total rebounding and getting to the free-throw line, as they rank 27th and 29th in those areas, respectively. Tonight was no different, as they were out-rebounded by the Cavs 44-36 and outshot at the charity stripe 27-5. Doc credited their three-point shooting as the difference, with the Bucks going 19/45 (42.2%) and the Cavaliers shooting 12/40 (30%).
• Ryan Rollins has continued to level up his game since he set foot in Milwaukee. Cavaliers head coach Kenny Atkinson, who was an assistant in Golden State when Rollins was drafted there, talked about how much he’s grown since then: 

“He’s really become a good passer and decision maker. He’s much more of a pure point guard than when I first saw him; he was just kind of speed and downhill. But now, I really like his feel watching him. These guys are so young and not used to the professional lifestyle, all that stuff, but I loved the talent, I loved his demeanor, tough as nails. I was just more pro Ryan Rollins, and now to see the passing and playmaking. Doc and them, development-wise, have done a great job with him. They have to recognize it here too, right? Guys like that sometimes, are you going to give them a chance? Are you going to give them an opportunity? You gotta give Doc and that group a lot of credit for saying, here you go.” 

• Jericho Sims is playing some of the best basketball of his career during the Bucks’ recent run of good form. In the last 10 games, he’s fourth on the team in minutes per game (26.5) and is averaging 7.8 PPG, 8.6 RPG, and 2.3 APG. Doc talked pre-game about Sims’ development as of late, with the help of assistant coach Jason Love, specifically:

“J-Love is phenomenal, and that’s another guy when you look at where he’s (Sims) at now to where he was at the beginning of the year, his passing, his rolling, his catching, and making the secondary decision making has been fantastic. That’s taxing work. Who wants to roll 50 times in a practice, catch it, and then try to read over and over? You gotta want to do that stuff, (and) give Jericho credit, but give J-Love credit because they do it every day. They watch film every day, on when it doesn’t work and when it works, and he enjoys doing it.” 

• Myles Turner officially crossed the 1,500 block threshold in the first quarter after swatting a shot away from Dean Wade. He becomes the 41st player in NBA history to break into the 1,500 club, and is 17 rejections away from Caldwell Jones. 

Up Next

The Bucks will wrap up their four-game homestand with another top-four seed in the Eastern Conference, as the New York Knicks come to town. The tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. Central time and can be watched on FanDuel Sports Network Wisconsin.