Bucks on the hunt without Giannis

There was a time – not long ago – when the Milwaukee Bucks looked like exactly the kind of team they were never supposed to become: fading, fractious, and running out of time in the Giannis Antetokounmpo era. After a string of chaotic decisions, including the costly end to the disastrous Damian Lillard experiment, few would have bet on this group for anything more than a slow, painful collapse. A divorce seemed inevitable. And yet…

Right now, the Bucks look alive – fast, physical, and full of intent. They don’t scare anyone purely on talent, but Doc Rivers, whose own reputation seemed to be running on fumes, has somehow lit a fire under them. His players are competing with nothing to lose and everything to prove. The result: a vibrant 4-1 start, capped by a statement 120-110 win over the Warriors… without Giannis.

The Greek superstar pulled out just an hour before tip-off due to soreness in his left knee, a move that should have handed the night to Stephen Curry and company. Instead, Milwaukee looked sharper, hungrier, and more cohesive. They outworked Golden State at both ends – a punch on the table that may signal a shift in an Eastern Conference still waiting to find its balance.

Rollins leads the rebellion

If there’s one player who embodies this reborn energy, it’s Ryan Rollins. The 23-year-old guard had one foot out of the league after being cut by the Wizards, burdened with off-court troubles and the shadow of wasted potential. A throw-in in that strange Chris Paul–Jordan Poole trade, Rollins landed in Milwaukee on a two-way contract and decided to rewrite his story.

Now he’s one of the league’s early revelations: after scoring 25 points against the Knicks, he erupted for 32 against his former team, torturing the Warriors in the fourth quarter with 13 of them as the Bucks pulled away (106-104). Rollins defended Curry, hit 13 of 21 shots including five threes, and led a fearless group that caught the veteran Warriors flat-footed – slow, maybe overconfident in Giannis’s absence, maybe just aging out of their dominance.

Golden State lived at the free-throw line (25 of 26) but drowned in turnovers (22). Curry’s 27 points came without his usual sharpness, and Steve Kerr struggled to find functional lineups. Jonathan Kuminga stood out with 24 points and eight rebounds, but there were too many gaps elsewhere, especially on the perimeter.

The Bucks’ depth delivers

Milwaukee, by contrast, looked like a team at war together – Rollins leading a deep, physical rotation: Kyle Kuzma’s veteran poise, a dominant Myles Turner on defense, and energy from Gary Trent Jr., AJ Green, Taurean Prince, Bobby Portis, Cole Anthony, Tobias Harris and Amir Coffey. A far cry from the top-heavy roster of last year, this was a team built to fight, even without its cornerstone.

There’s also a practical victory in all this. Between Rollins (three years, $12 million), Anthony, and Green, the Bucks got 58 points for less than $10 million combined in contracts – a bargain that helps ease their salary-cap headaches. This is how franchises rebuild from within once they already have a foundational superstar like Giannis.

And right now, Giannis probably isn’t thinking about the Knicks. That alone is a win in Wisconsin. From here, the Bucks look more like hunters than hunted, pushing the supposed elite of the East to raise their game. Considering how bleak things looked just a few months ago, this start feels like an unexpected gift. Let’s see how long it lasts.

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