Bucks beat Pelicans 139-118 for their 3rd straight victory and 6th in 7 games

Start coming out of the break, what happened, um, as far as the defense? Yeah, I mean, obviously, we, we’ve not been able to guard these guys for 2 straight games. We knew it was going to be ***, you know, *** massive challenge coming in. You know, I felt this in the first, you know, the first go round with them. And, uh, you know, and they added Cam Thomas to the mix. We couldn’t guard him one on one. We couldn’t, there was no resistance at, at the rim. Uh, we had no control of them. And when they needed to make *** big shot, they made *** big shot, cut it to 2, they found mid-range, they found some easy stuff at the rim. Um, so You know, we gotta, we gotta be better tomorrow. Bottom line, it’s, it’s the defense we’ve been saying this for *** number of times and we’ve been trending well. It’s disappointing that we came out this way when the focus the last two days in practice, which had been good, uh, the focus has been on the defensive end and we just didn’t get it done tonight. Bottom line, you know. As far as the three point shooting, I know you didn’t have, but 4 425, frustrating is that? Yeah, it’s gonna be tough when you, you know, you shoot at that number. I mean, we did shoot what, 55% overall. I think we’re pretty good at the rim. Um, obviously we’re missing Trey’s 3 ball, you know, he’s *** massive part of our offense, um, and we missed him, but, you know. We got to find other ways to score and we have to do it off our defense. I, I said that, you know, at the start of, of today, we got to generate more off our, our defense. We just did not do it tonight. We turned them over, I think, enough in the first half to get out and get some easy ones. We just couldn’t get enough of that done in the second half. Is *** game like this where you don’t have really that secondary help and even Missy back there on the backline really hurt? Yeah, it’s massive. He’s *** big part of our defense. You know, he’s an anchor for us. He’s in the paint. He’s at the rim. He can cover for so many guys. He’s switchable. He’s *** big part of our defense and obviously we’re missing that. So other guys have to step up. When you say other guys have to step up, is it basically just *** point of attack defense or is it just really everywhere? It’s both. It’s both. You’re, you’re right. Prevention is cure one on one. You got *** guard. I think I’m gonna, you can go through the film and find everybody getting beat off the bounce tonight, and they have. You know they’re elite, you know, off the bounce they have some guys that can flat out score off the bounce. Um, so that’s the point of attack we have to be better at, which we’ve been drilling. We’re working on that. But there’s *** secondary level too where in my shifts, you know, before the ball even gets to the paint, we got to be in, and then if it gets to the paint, there’s gotta be resistance at the rim. There’s gotta be *** play at the rim. We did not make enough plays at the rim tonight. Uh, the paint felt too empty to me tonight. No resistance on the ball. There was no resistance in the paint. And that if that happens, they’re gonna score 140. Jordan Poole’s first time playing in 9 games, 10 games. So how do you think? I thought he had great spirit out there. His energy was good. He was communicating, talking. I felt him in the game, you know, I thought his spirit was in it. He was competing. I can’t ask more from that.

Updated: 10:14 PM CST Feb 20, 2026

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Ryan Rollins made a career-high seven 3-pointers and scored 27 points to help the Milwaukee Bucks beat the New Orleans Pelicans 139-118 on Friday night for their third straight victory and sixth in seven games.Playing without injured star Giannis Antetokounmpo, the Bucks pulled away in the fourth quarter to improve to 24-30. Antetokounmpo has been sidelined four weeks by a strained right calf.Bucks newcomer Cam Thomas, a former LSU star, had 27 points in 21 minutes off the bench, and Kevin Porter added 25 points. Rollins was 7 of 10 on 3s and had six assists, four steals and two blocks. The Bucks were coming off a victory at defending champion Oklahoma City before the All-Star break.Zion Williamson led New Orleans with 32 points in the first game of home back-to-back, while scoring leader Trey Murphy sat out because of a sore right shoulder. The Pelicans dropped to 15-42.Rollins had 16 points in the first half to help Milwaukee take a 71-65 lead. Williamson had 21 points in the half.The Bucks took a 103-96 advantage into the fourth. After the Pelicans cut it to 108-102 on Williamson’s layup, the Bucks pulled away with a 14-4 run. Pete Nance hit two 3s and a layup during the run.Up nextBucks: Host Toronto on Sunday.Pelicans: Host Philadelphia on Saturday night.

NEW ORLEANS —

Playing without injured star Giannis Antetokounmpo, the Bucks pulled away in the fourth quarter to improve to 24-30. Antetokounmpo has been sidelined four weeks by a strained right calf.

Bucks newcomer Cam Thomas, a former LSU star, had 27 points in 21 minutes off the bench, and Kevin Porter added 25 points. Rollins was 7 of 10 on 3s and had six assists, four steals and two blocks. The Bucks were coming off a victory at defending champion Oklahoma City before the All-Star break.

Zion Williamson led New Orleans with 32 points in the first game of home back-to-back, while scoring leader Trey Murphy sat out because of a sore right shoulder. The Pelicans dropped to 15-42.

Rollins had 16 points in the first half to help Milwaukee take a 71-65 lead. Williamson had 21 points in the half.

The Bucks took a 103-96 advantage into the fourth. After the Pelicans cut it to 108-102 on Williamson’s layup, the Bucks pulled away with a 14-4 run. Pete Nance hit two 3s and a layup during the run.

Up next

Bucks: Host Toronto on Sunday.

Pelicans: Host Philadelphia on Saturday night.

Bucks beat Pelicans 139-118 for their 3rd straight victory and 6th in 7 games

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