• Thu. Mar 28th, 2024

MILWAUKEE – New York came into town Tuesday night to face the Milwaukee Bucks, with hopes of building on their previous win over the Denver Nuggets. The Bucks came into the contest with a 5-5 record, and playing good basketball. They had won 3 of their last 4 games, with quality wins over the Oklahoma City Thunder, Memphis Grizzlies and Miami Heat. Brandon Knight and Jabari Parker have looked good so far to the start of the season. O.J. Mayo has done well in accepting his role off the bench and playing hard. Scoring has been a team effort for the Bucks, as they have 5 players averaging double digits. The bench production has also helped out Milwaukee immensely. We can look at the Knicks lack of bench production to see the importance of what bench play can do to win games.

Tuesday night started out strong out of the gate for both teams. After the 1st quarter the score was tied at 30-30. Both teams were moving the ball well and capitalizing on early opportunities. The 2nd quarter however, set the tone for the rest of the game. Usually the Knicks come out flat in the 3rd quarter, but Tuesday the Knicks were flat in the 2nd quarter. They were outscored 19-36. This put them in a 17 point hole going into halftime, and they were forced to play catch-up the rest of the way. This pace eventually would take a toll on the Knicks. They were able to pull to within 2 points late into the 4th quarter, but timely buckets from the Bucks helped to fend of the Knicks and pick up a 117-113 win.

The Bucks had 7 players score over double digits. Ersan Ilyasova was the high scorer for the Bucks with 20 points coming off the bench. Rookie Jabari Parker looked good in his 24 minutes in a starting role. He had 12 points along with 5 rebounds and an assist. Zaza Pachulia had a double double (14 points, 13 rebounds), and killed the Knicks with his offensive rebounding.

PI-NBA-Milwaukee-Bucks-Knicks-2-111814.vadapt.620.medium.0
Credit: Benny Sieu/USA Today Sports … Zaza Pachulia’s double double helped Milwaukee pick up their 6th win on the year

New York had a good offensive showing; they shot 55% from the field (44-80) and had 30 assists. They also had their 2nd straight game scoring in double digits on the fast break. The Knicks have struggled to score in transition all year. Carmelo Anthony led in scoring again with 26 points along with 6 rebounds and 5 assists. Iman Shumpert had a strong game coming back from a hip injury that sidelined him Sunday. Shumpert had 21 points and added 8 rebounds, 8 assists and 3 steals. He has done a great job filling the stat sheet for the Knicks all year, and may be the Knicks most consistent player this year. It’s worth noting that Tim Hardaway Jr. had a great game off the bench, adding 24 points in a losing effort.

Credit: AP Photo/Tom Lynn ... Iman Shumpert added 21 points in a losing effort
Credit: AP Photo/Tom Lynn … Iman Shumpert added 21 points in a losing effort

The main problem though has been their poor defensive showings. This game was arguably the worst the Knicks have played defensively all year. Too many times the Knicks were beat back door, giving up 2nd chance points, giving up open jumpers, and playing poor perimeter defense. The Bucks had only scored over 100 points twice prior to playing New York, and the Knicks gave up the most points the Bucks have scored all year. The Bucks shot 55% (43-78), and went to the foul line 27 times (22-27). Jerryd Bayless hit key free throws down the stretch to seal the win for Milwaukee. Milwaukee only had 9 three pointers, but the ones they hit were momentum killers and not really contested. The Knicks need to get it into their head that they can not spot teams 20+ points at the free throw line every night, nor can they play “matador d” as Walt Frazier has said all too frequently this year. It doesn’t get any easier as they have to play Minnesota (2-7) on the road Wednesday night.
Barry Holmes/Pure Sports NY

By Barry Holmes

Graduate of Millersville University, with a BS in Communications focused in Broadcast. Senior Writer & Social Media Manager for PureSportsNY.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.