INDIANAPOLIS — Kevin Porter Jr. couldn’t contain his excitement when he was told he and Ryan Rollins combined for 47 points Tuesday night after the Milwaukee Bucks’ 111-94 win over the Indiana Pacers.

When KPJ learned he and Ry combined for 47 points. pic.twitter.com/TDK1C08QLW

— Milwaukee Bucks (@Bucks) December 24, 2025

It wasn’t the first time they had each scored 20 points in a win; they pulled that off for the first time in Milwaukee’s comeback win over the Detroit Pistons on Dec. 3, the night Giannis Antetokounmpo sustained a right soleus strain. Nor was it the most points they had combined in their 31 regular season games as teammates — which would be 48 on that same night against the Pistons.

But Tuesday was the first time they had pulled off the feat since that first night at the start of this Antetokounmpo-less stretch, and it felt like an important step for the duo as they try to figure out how to thrive together.

“They played the right way, played downhill a lot, got to the paint a ton,” Bucks coach Doc Rivers said of Porter and Rollins after the win. “But they did everything. They assisted. They rebounded. They defended.”

On Tuesday, it wasn’t just about the volume of production from Porter (24 points, six rebounds, five assists) and Rollins (23 points, seven rebounds, four assists). The young pair of point guards created for themselves and scored three times when the Bucks needed it most to snap a three-game losing streak.

Milwaukee built a 25-point lead over the Pacers in the third quarter but allowed Indiana to cut the lead to single digits with 4:36 remaining in the fourth. While the Pacers (6-24) have struggled mightily this season, Gainbridge Fieldhouse has served as a house of horrors for the Bucks over the last two seasons. Milwaukee blew a 16-point second-half lead Sunday night in Minneapolis, which meant the Bucks created a big spot for themselves with a little more than four minutes remaining.

Out of a timeout, the Bucks started with Rollins working through an action before looking to Porter to make a play late in the shot clock against Andrew Nembhard, one of the NBA’s best perimeter defenders. With the clock winding down, Porter made his move and hit a contested shot over Nembhard in the lane.

On their next offensive possession, the Bucks gave Rollins a turn. The 23-year-old guard worked off a screen from Jericho Sims. Unable to get to the rim on the first action, Rollins calmly worked his way into the lane with a few more moves and then hit a tough shot through contact in the restricted area.

“Everyone knows that I’m ball-dominant, but when I’m tired, I trust (Ryan) to take over, and he’s been doing a great job,” Porter said. “I love playing with him. He’s a dog. … His game’s just been growing each and every day, each and every game.

“He’s capable, so he’s just gotta keep living in that moment.”

Following a defensive stop two possessions later, Porter looked to get Bobby Portis the ball in the post on a mismatch in transition, but his pass was off target. After Portis saved the ball, Porter tracked down the ball from Sims to get back into the play. In a two-man action with Sims, Nembhard got lost underneath a screen, and Porter stepped back into a right-wing 3 that gave the Bucks a 15-point lead with a little more than two minutes remaining.

With the game briefly hanging in the balance, the Bucks (12-18) scored on three of their next four possessions with Porter and Rollins creating for themselves to close out the game and put the Pacers away for good. The connectivity and chemistry shown between Porter and Rollins to beat the Pacers, however, has not come easy this season.

After getting injured in the season opener, Porter missed 19 straight games with two injuries, which vaulted Rollins into the starting lineup. Rollins became one of the breakout stars of the first month of the season, averaging 18.3 points, 4.2 rebounds and 6.0 assists in 32.5 minutes per game in the first 20 games. However, when Antetokounmpo missed four straight games with a left adductor strain in late November, Rollins’ efficiency started to dip as he took the top spot on opponents’ scouting reports.

Antetokounmpo returned on Nov. 28 in a loss to the New York Knicks, but Porter returned the next night and the Bucks came away with an easy win over the Brooklyn Nets. Rivers expressed excitement about getting to play Porter and Rollins with Antetokounmpo, but that only lasted for two games as Antetokounmpo suffered the right soleus strain against the Pistons, which has now kept him out for seven straight games.

And that is where the struggles began for Porter and Rollins.

With Antetokounmpo out of the lineup, as well as shooting guard AJ Green out with a sprained AC joint in his left shoulder, Rivers tried Porter and Rollins together in the starting lineup, but it didn’t work out. Porter quickly established himself as the Bucks’ leading scorer sans Antetokounmpo, but Rollins, who had been the team’s second most-important player behind Antetokounmpo to start the season, never found a synergistic connection with Porter.

Rivers then moved Rollins to the bench against the Toronto Raptors on Dec. 18 where he could take on lead creator responsibilities similar to the ones he had when he started at point guard for 19 straight games before Porter’s return.

“Something we’ve talked about for a couple weeks,” Rivers said following the Raptors game. “Our numbers with Scoot (Porter) and Ryan have not been great together. Everything is kind of skewed because of the non-Giannis numbers with Scoot and Ryan. The two games that we had Giannis with Scoot and Ryan, they actually looked really good. But without that, it’s not a good look for us.”

Rollins has quickly become comfortable in that role, averaging 18.7 points per game on 52.3 percent shooting while also adding 5.0 rebounds and 4.7 assists in 28 minutes per game off the bench. Bringing Rollins off the bench, however, limited his minutes in the first two games as Rivers largely staggered Rollins and Porter to start games before letting them share the floor to close games. Tuesday in Indianapolis, Rivers allowed their minutes to overlap more often as Rollins played 33 minutes.

“I feel like we’ve been good on and off the ball together,” Rollins said. “We can play better, for sure, but I think experience is the best teacher. So, the more reps, more opportunity we get to play together, the better for us playing off each other. And just knowing he’s tired, I’m tired, he gets the ball, I get the ball.

“Real dynamic backcourt, though. I think the more we play together, it’s gonna be only for the better.”

Ultimately, while it was good to see Rollins and Porter work together to close out Tuesday’s game, Rivers will need to push the right buttons moving forward to get strong contributions out of both young guards, while also getting the MVP-level contributions out of Antetokounmpo once the nine-time All-Star returns.

Porter and Rollins have contributed more offensively than any of the rest of Antetokounmpo’s teammates this season, but Rivers has struggled to maximize them when they share the floor thus far. If the Bucks are going to be successful when Antetokounmpo returns, they are going to need to get the most possible out of all their best offensive contributors and play like a top-five offensive unit. That will require the connection between Porter and Rollins to grow even stronger in the coming weeks.