The Milwaukee Bucks dismantled the New Orleans Pelicans 139-118 on February 20, 2026 at Smoothie King Center in New Orleans. Ryan Rollins went off for 27 points on an absurd 70% from three. Cam Thomas matched him with 27 of his own off the bench. Zion Williamson led a spirited but ultimately short Pelicans effort with 32 points, and it still wasn’t enough.
Here is everything you need to know about the Milwaukee Bucks vs New Orleans Pelicans match player stats from that night.
Table of Contents
Final Score and Quarter-by-Quarter Breakdown
Quarter | New Orleans Pelicans | Milwaukee Bucks |
|---|---|---|
Q1 | 38 | 33 |
Q2 | 27 | 38 |
Q3 | 31 | 32 |
Q4 | 22 | 36 |
Final | 118 | 139 |
The Pelicans actually led after one quarter. They jumped out hot, got into the paint early, and looked like they might control the game. Then Milwaukee flipped the switch in the second quarter, outscoring New Orleans 38-27, and never really looked back. The Bucks went on a 9-0 run in the fourth that made it a 25-point lead at one stage and officially put the game to bed.
Milwaukee Bucks Player Stats
Bucks Scoring Leaders
Player | POS | PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | FG% | 3P% | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ryan Rollins | G | 27 | 2 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 66.7% | 70.0% | +14 |
Cam Thomas | G | 27 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 64.7% | 16.7% | +2 |
Bobby Portis | F | 17 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 66.7% | 33.3% | 0 |
Kyle Kuzma | F | 14 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 54.5% | 40.0% | +15 |
Pete Nance | F | 10 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 50.0% | 50.0% | +5 |
Ousmane Dieng | F | 10 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 50.0% | 100% | +8 |
Jericho Sims | C | 4 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 100% | N/A | +21 |
Gary Trent Jr. | G | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 50.0% | 50.0% | +2 |
Thanasis Antetokounmpo | F | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | N/A | N/A | +2 |
Bucks Advanced and Team Stats
Stat | Value |
|---|---|
Field Goal % | 59.8% |
Three Point % | 41.7% |
Free Throw % | 77.8% |
Total Rebounds | 45 |
Assists | 28 |
Steals | 9 |
Blocks | 8 |
Turnovers | 15 |
Bench Points | 69 |
Points in Paint | 60 |
Effective FG% | 67.9% |
True Shooting % | 69.6% |
Assist-to-Turnover Ratio | 2.15 |
Biggest Lead | 25 |
Offensive Rating | 130.0 |
Defensive Rating | 113.1 |
Milwaukee shot nearly 60% from the field overall. That number alone tells the story. When you also knock down 15 threes and get 69 points from your bench, you are not just winning, you are winning comfortably.
New Orleans Pelicans Player Stats
Pelicans Scoring Leaders
Player | POS | PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | FG% | 3P% | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Zion Williamson | F | 32 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 76.5% | N/A | -6 |
Saddiq Bey | F | 22 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 50.0% | 28.6% | -18 |
Jeremiah Fears | G | 16 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 53.8% | 0% | -10 |
Derik Queen | C | 18 | 9 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 70.0% | N/A | -15 |
Karlo Matkovic | F-C | 9 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 100% | 100% | -5 |
Herbert Jones | G | 8 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 30.0% | 0% | -19 |
Jordan Poole | G | 3 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 16.7% | 25.0% | -12 |
Pelicans Advanced and Team Stats
Stat | Value |
|---|---|
Field Goal % | 54.0% |
Three Point % | 16.0% |
Free Throw % | 71.4% |
Total Rebounds | 45 |
Assists | 22 |
Steals | 10 |
Blocks | 5 |
Turnovers | 14 |
Bench Points | 28 |
Points in Paint | 84 |
Effective FG% | 56.3% |
True Shooting % | 59.4% |
Assist-to-Turnover Ratio | 1.69 |
Biggest Lead | 6 |
Offensive Rating | 113.1 |
Defensive Rating | 130.0 |
New Orleans absolutely owned the paint, scoring 84 points there compared to Milwaukee’s 60. That is a massive interior edge. The problem? They shot 4-of-25 from three-point range. That is 16%. You cannot win a modern NBA game going 4-of-25 from deep while giving up 15 made threes on the other end.
Player Spotlight: Ryan Rollins Catches Fire
Let’s be straight about what Ryan Rollins did on February 20. Going 7-of-10 from three-point range in a 27-point performance off the bench is a legitimate breakout moment. His 90% true shooting percentage was the best of any player on the floor that night.
Rollins by the numbers:
- 10-of-15 from the field (66.7%)
- 7-of-10 from three (70%)
- 6 assists, 4 steals, 2 blocks
- +14 plus-minus
For a Bucks squad still finding its rotation, a night like this from Rollins is exactly what the front office was hoping for when they built the roster around bench depth. The Pelicans had no answer for him, and he made them pay every single time he touched it in the third and fourth quarters.
Zion Williamson Delivered, The Team Did Not
32 points on 13-of-17 shooting. Zion was dominant inside. His 84.0% field goal percentage at the rim and 76.5% overall shooting line shows exactly what he is capable of when healthy and aggressive. He also scored 8 fast break points, all on 4-of-4 shooting, and added 26 points in the paint alone.
The issue is the 21-point final margin. You cannot lose by 21 when your best player shoots like that. That puts the loss squarely on everyone around Zion.
Pelicans players who struggled:
- Jordan Poole: 3 points on 1-of-6 shooting, 1-of-4 from three
- Herbert Jones: 8 points, 0-of-6 from three, went 30% overall
- Jeremiah Fears: 16 points, 0-of-3 from three, four turnovers
The Pelicans’ supporting cast simply did not show up when Zion needed them to.
Bench Battle: Bucks Win by a Mile
This is where the game was truly decided. Look at the bench contribution numbers side by side.
Stat | Bucks Bench | Pelicans Bench |
|---|---|---|
Bench Points | 69 | 28 |
Key Contributors | Rollins (27), Thomas (27) | Bey (22), Queen (18) |
Three Pointers Made | 8 | 2 |
Milwaukee’s bench outscored the entire Pelicans starting unit. That is not a typo. Sixty-nine bench points is borderline historic production. Cam Thomas added 27 on 64.7% shooting with two second-chance buckets and five fast break points, making him arguably just as important as Rollins on the night.
Derik Queen and Saddiq Bey kept the Pelicans’ second unit competitive, but the gap was simply too big to close.
Shooting Comparison: Three-Point Line Decided It
The biggest statistical gap in this entire game was from beyond the arc.
Three-Point Stat | Milwaukee Bucks | New Orleans Pelicans |
|---|---|---|
Made | 15 | 4 |
Attempted | 36 | 25 |
Percentage | 41.7% | 16.0% |
Milwaukee attempted more threes and connected on 41.7% of them. New Orleans attempted fewer and made just 4. That 11-made-three differential is worth 33 points on its own, which is almost exactly the final margin of victory.
If the Pelicans hit even a league-average percentage from three, this game looks completely different.
Paint Points vs. Perimeter Points
Here is where the Pelicans actually had an advantage, and it still was not enough.
Area | Bucks | Pelicans |
|---|---|---|
Points in Paint | 60 | 84 |
Three Point Points | 45 | 12 |
Free Throw Points | 14 | 20 |
New Orleans scored more inside. They got to the line more. They still lost by 21. That tells you just how damaging the three-point disparity was. It is one of the more telling statistical splits in a recent Pelicans loss and something their coaching staff will need to address going forward.
Game Flow and Key Momentum Shifts
The Bucks went on a 9-0 run late in the fourth quarter that extended their lead to 25 points, their biggest of the game.
After New Orleans’ fast start in Q1 where they led by as many as 6, Milwaukee took over in the second quarter behind hot shooting and 28 total assists that showed a team moving the ball with real purpose. The Bucks finished with an assist-to-turnover ratio of 2.15 compared to the Pelicans’ 1.69.
Quarter-by-quarter momentum:
- Q1: New Orleans controlled behind Zion’s early paint touches and fast break buckets
- Q2: Milwaukee’s bench unit took the floor and immediately changed the game, going on a 12-4 run
- Q3: Both teams traded buckets, but Milwaukee maintained their lead with consistent three-point production
- Q4: Bucks pulled away with a 36-22 quarter, their highest scoring quarter of the game
Head to Head Context: These Two Teams in 2025-26
This was actually the second meeting between these two teams this season. Just 15 days earlier, on February 5, Milwaukee also beat New Orleans at home, 141-137, in an even higher-scoring affair. The Bucks have now won both matchups in the 2025-26 season, and the recurring theme in both games has been New Orleans’ inability to defend Milwaukee’s perimeter shooting.
For Milwaukee this win came right before their road trip, keeping them relevant in the Eastern Conference playoff picture. For New Orleans, it extended what has been a difficult stretch, and the three-point shooting numbers from both losses to the Bucks are genuinely concerning.
What This Game Means Going Forward
For the Bucks, this was a statement about bench depth. When Ryan Rollins and Cam Thomas can combine for 54 points off the bench on elite shooting efficiency, this team becomes a serious threat regardless of what the starters do. The 69 bench points are the kind of number that travels through the league.
For the Pelicans, the story circles back to Zion. He was brilliant. He scored 32 on 76.5% shooting and was the best player on the floor for stretches. But the team’s inability to hit threes and the collapse of Jordan Poole in particular (3 points, 1-of-6) made it impossible to stay competitive.
The Pelicans also finished with 14 turnovers compared to Milwaukee’s 15, so ball security was a concern for both teams. New Orleans gave up 25 points off turnovers, same as the Bucks, but with fewer threes falling the margin for error was zero.
Full Statistical Summary
Combined Box Score Overview
Category | Milwaukee Bucks | New Orleans Pelicans |
|---|---|---|
Points | 139 | 118 |
FG Made / Att | 55/92 | 47/87 |
Field Goal % | 59.8% | 54.0% |
3PM / 3PA | 15/36 | 4/25 |
Three Point % | 41.7% | 16.0% |
FTM / FTA | 14/18 | 20/28 |
Free Throw % | 77.8% | 71.4% |
Total Rebounds | 45 | 45 |
Offensive Rebounds | 8 | 9 |
Assists | 28 | 22 |
Steals | 9 | 10 |
Blocks | 8 | 5 |
Turnovers | 15 | 14 |
Points in Paint | 60 | 84 |
Bench Points | 69 | 28 |
Fast Break Points | 13 | 24 |
Second Chance Points | 15 | 14 |
Points off Turnovers | 20 | 25 |
True Shooting % | 69.6% | 59.4% |
Effective FG% | 67.9% | 56.3% |
Offensive Rating | 130.0 | 113.1 |
Defensive Rating | 113.1 | 130.0 |
For more complete NBA match player stats, box scores, and head-to-head breakdowns like this one, check out tophillsports.org for detailed coverage across every game of the season.
The Milwaukee Bucks vs New Orleans Pelicans match player stats from February 20, 2026 tell a clear story: elite bench production, historic three-point shooting from Milwaukee, and a Zion Williamson masterclass that ultimately went to waste.
