{"id":598990,"date":"2026-02-12T14:40:04","date_gmt":"2026-02-12T14:40:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/598990\/"},"modified":"2026-02-12T14:40:04","modified_gmt":"2026-02-12T14:40:04","slug":"player-grades-for-cam-thomas-kevin-porter-jr-in-bucks-win-vs-magic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/598990\/","title":{"rendered":"Player Grades for Cam Thomas, Kevin Porter Jr. in Bucks\u2019 win vs. Magic"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Milwaukee Bucks got their revenge on the Orlando Magic last night in a performance that offers a lot of reasons for optimism moving forward. For at least one night, Jon Horst\u2019s deadline deals made him look like a genius, with Cam Thomas leading the charge and Ousmane Dieng having a career night, among a plethora of Bucks who came up big. Read our full summary of the game here<\/a> and catch a six-minute audio recap on the Bucks+ podcast, Bucks In Six Minutes<\/a>, below.<\/p>\n

31 minutes, 5 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocks, 2\/4 FG, 1\/2 3PT, +6<\/p>\n

Turner wasn\u2019t able to find many looks on offence, but boy did he show some cojones with that late three. His defence was strong all night too\u2014he\u2019s at least partly responsible for limiting Paolo Banchero and Wendell Carter Jr. to a combined 6\/23\u2014and he was aggressive pursuing defensive rebounds. Overall, a quality performance from the big man.<\/p>\n

30 minutes, 6 points, 1 rebound, 2 assists, 1 steal, 2\/6 FG, 2\/6 3PT, +1<\/p>\n

After a top-notch performance to open the two-game series in Orlando, Green was held in check in this one. He looked threatening, and his gravity certainly helped, but he just wasn\u2019t able to generate the same shot volume he did previously. Not a bad performance by any means, though.<\/p>\n

30 minutes, 15 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 5\/15 FG, 1\/7 3PT, 4\/4 FT, +6<\/p>\n

Kuzma\u2019s shooting line might make you wince, and there were certainly some questionable attempts, but it\u2019s a little deceiving overall\u2014he had to hoist at least a few late ones to beat the shot clock. Importantly, he didn\u2019t let his inefficiency reduce his aggressiveness, which proved pivotal in a late go-ahead layup. Defensively, Kuz bodied up quite well too.<\/p>\n

39 minutes, 18 points, 10 rebounds, 11 assists, 2 blocks, 5\/14 FG, 1\/3 3PT, 7\/7 FT, +11<\/p>\n

Like Kuzma, Porter\u2019s shooting line is an eyesore, but it\u2019s hard to fault him too much considering his overall production, and he certainly wasn\u2019t forcing shots like he sometimes does. His rim pressure was essential, keeping the scoreboard ticking over, and he was active on the boards and finding teammates\u2014especially Sims\u2014for easy finishes. But two other moments stand out most as difference makers\u2014shaking off what looked like a painful corked thigh and coming across in help to swat Desmond Bane at the rim. \u201cLeadership.\u201d \u201cDawg.\u201d Call it what you will, know it was big.<\/p>\n

36 minutes, 17 points, 11 rebounds, 2 assists, 6\/6 FG, 5\/5 FT, +8<\/p>\n

Sims must have really thought his spot was up for grabs when the Bucks traded for Nick Richards because he has found a new level ever since. Last night, he was near-flawless, dominating the paint; using his power to throw down lobs and his strength to either grab rebounds or draw fouls battling for them. It\u2019s so refreshing to see Sims play with such confidence. And fight. Zion, Pascal, and now twice against Paolo, Sims sure is making a name for himself as a stopper. You get an A!<\/p>\n

25 minutes, 34 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 12\/20 FG, 4\/6 3PT, 6\/6 FT, +6<\/p>\n

What a way to introduce yourself! While the opening few minutes might\u2019ve had you worried, Thomas quickly put those thoughts to bed, showing-out in his first real game as a Buck, and doing what he does best\u2014fill it up. Drives to the rim, pull-ups, leaners, runners, treys. You name it, Thomas hit it, showing off the full offensive arsenal in a game where the Bucks absolutely needed it. In the third, he went supernova, and it if wasn\u2019t for some timely Magic threes, his play could\u2019ve easily led to the Bucks running away with it. Still, he came up big in the fourth too\u2014and the bomb to end it was cinematic. You get an A!<\/p>\n

23 minutes, 17 points, 3 rebounds, 6\/10 FG, 5\/8 3PT, +6<\/p>\n

Well, we just might have found one, folks. Despite seldom playing with the Oklahoma City Thunder over the past four years, being immersed in that championship environment has clearly rubbed off\u2014Dieng looked like a seasoned vet last night, playing poised, taking the right shots, and holding up defensively. The career-highs stand out, but Dieng was also valuable as a release valve ball handler when KPJ or Thomas were forced to give it up. Just outstanding. You get an A!<\/p>\n

16 minutes, 4 points, 2 rebounds, 1\/5 FG, 0\/3 3PT, 2\/2 FT, +1<\/p>\n

Portis might have only played 16 minutes, but every one of them felt long. As Jack said in the previous player grades, the Magic are just a tough matchup for Bobby, and that\u2019s okay. What isn\u2019t, is picking up a technical foul in a one-possession game, getting called for a lane violation, and coughing it up twice in so few minutes. You know what you\u2019re getting.<\/p>\n

Rivers pushed a lot of the right buttons last night, giving extended minutes to Thomas, Dieng, and Sims. He also managed Porter\u2019s and Thomas\u2019 minutes effectively, which was essential considering they were the only legitimate ball handlers available. Limiting Portis was crucial too, though for some reason he played him extensively in the fourth and it almost cost the Bucks the game. Overall, though, it was a well-coached game\u2014and he even won a coach\u2019s challenge!<\/p>\n

Limited Minutes: Gary Harris, Pete Nance.<\/p>\n

DNP-CD: Gary Trent Jr., Thanasis Antetokounmpo, Andre Jackson Jr.<\/p>\n

Inactive: Giannis Antetokounmpo, Ryan Rollins, Taurean Prince, Alex Antetokounmpo.<\/p>\n

Dieng finished with a career-high five three pointers. If he can keep this up, he\u2019ll be the starting small forward sooner rather than later. For what it\u2019s worth, he\u2019s confident. \u201cI\u2019ll shoot every time I\u2019m open and yeah, I work on it and I know it\u2019ll go in,\u201d he said during post-game availability. We hope you\u2019re right, \u2019Mane.Thomas\u2019 34 points were his second-highest total of the season, while his 60% shooting from the floor tied a season high. In his post-game media availability, he gave a very nonchalant, \u201cObviously everybody knows I can score,\u201d but went on to talk about his playmaking as something that \u201cgets underrated.\u201d He\u2019s not wrong.After grabbing a career-high 15 rebounds against Indiana, Sims scored a career-high 17 points in this one. Not a bad stretch for a guy who was looking like he might be on his way out of the league just a few weeks ago.As Morgan noted in the Stat That Stood Out, Milwaukee went a perfect 24\/24 from the line. That, my friends, is rare.Averaging 24 minutes per game on the year, Portis played just 16 minutes for the second consecutive time. Again, just a bad matchup for the Mayor.He\u2019s got a player option for next year, but the days of Gary Trent Jr. in Milwaukee seem to be numbered\u2014despite Rollins not playing, Trent couldn\u2019t get off the pine, receiving a DNP-CD for the second consecutive game.The Bucks dominated the rebounding battle 47-30 and also won the free throw battle (24\/24 vs. 18\/21). That\u2019s progress!The Bucks won despite being out-shot by the Magic from three (20\/47 to 14\/36) and turning it over six more times (15 to 9). That\u2019s\u2026 interesting.You\u2019ve got to feel at least somewhat sorry for Pete Nance. Looking like a sure bet for a standard contract just a few days ago\u2014after averaging 20.4 minutes per game over five games prior to heading to Orlando\u2014Nance played just four minutes last night and 13 total over the two-game series.Mo Wagner continues to play annoyingly well against the Bucks, going for 12 points, five rebounds, four assists, a steal, and a block. His brother Franz stunk it up, though. So, yeah, take that, Mo!<\/p>\n

Right back at it, the Bucks take on the Oklahoma City Thunder tonight! You can find all the action on Prime Video\u2014tip off is at 6:30 p.m. Central.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Milwaukee Bucks got their revenge on the Orlando Magic last night in a performance that offers a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":598253,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3779],"tags":[7,56844,1565,48,6,47,76,3883],"class_list":{"0":"post-598990","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-orlando-magic","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-bucks-postgame-takeaways-player-grades","10":"tag-bucks-analysis","11":"tag-magic","12":"tag-nba","13":"tag-orlando","14":"tag-orlando-magic","15":"tag-orlandomagic"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116058182013828587","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/598990","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=598990"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/598990\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/598253"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=598990"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=598990"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=598990"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}