The Milwaukee Bucks lost to the Philadelphia 76ers in their first assignment without Giannis Antetokounmpo in a full game. The Greek Freak is out up two weeks after a groin injury he incurred in road defeat at the hands of the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The remaining guys will have to hold the forth until he comes back. They may have failed to get the W against the visiting Sixers but there’s still good takeaways from the game. The most important one is Ryan Rollins who scored 32 points, grabbed 6 rebounds, and shared 14 assists.
He has been arguably the team’s second best player and more consistent one since the start of the season next to Giannis. Many think he should be a candidate for Most Improved Player.
This Ryan Rollins leap is NOT being talked about enough 👀
This season: Last season:
18.3 PPG 6.2 PPG
5.9 APG 1.9 APG
3.7 RPG 1.9 RPG
51.1% FG 48.7% FG
44.3% 3PT 40.8% 3PTMIP. 🔒 pic.twitter.com/yIfL2Eyhy7
— NBA World (@NBAW0RLD24) November 21, 2025
Ryan Rollins is producing 5.9 (!) deflections per game, leading the NBA. Single handedly pulling MIL from a bottom 10 team in deflections last year to a top 7 team this year.
Hyper-disruptive at the POA, hyper-efficient scoring, & great secondary playmaking. Early MIP candidate! pic.twitter.com/4q9FKDVsLJ
— Basketball University (@UofBasketball) November 15, 2025
Ryan Rollins should easily win MIP this season it’s not even a debate
— Hana 🏀 (@HanaHoops) November 21, 2025
if the league was serious about its awards ryan rollins would be lapping the MIP race but unfortunately it’s probably going to josh shiddey
— bxyxe 🍉🏳️⚧️ (@FAGG0TKISSER) November 21, 2025
The speed with which Ryan Rollins went from fringe NBA player to above-average starting point guard…
— Brett Usher (@UsherNBA) November 21, 2025
Right now, Rollins is fourth when it comes to odds of winning MIP in an update released by ESPN.
Milwaukee Bucks will have KPJ back soon
Rollins becoming the starting PG for the Bucks has to do with the injury Kevin Porter Jr. suffered in the first game.
He will be back soon and Rivers can add more firepower to his backcourt with him. The latest from Bucks reporter Eric Nehm suggests he is right on track with his recovery.
“Being able to do my regular weights and my regular conditioning, like all those things, were building up factors that I had to wait and be patient the first two weeks, and that was the hardest time,” Porter said.
“So, now that I’m back in office, I’m back on the court, I’m doing little things at a time, it’s just great. It’s great to be around energy, too.”
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