Bucks Blast the Knicks in Matinee at MSG
The Bucks are averaging more points per game vs. the Knicks than any opponent they've faced this season.
Final Score: Knicks 111 - Bucks 130
Record: 16-12
It's become an all-too-familiar theme this season. The Knicks racked up solid wins against the Lakers and Nets earlier in the week to close out their road trip in impressive fashion, imbuing hope and optimism in New Yorkers, only to have a top-tier club knock them back down to earth.
Saturday's beatdown by the Bucks was the sixth time the Knicks have played either Milwaukee or Boston. New York has lost all six contests. Dating back to 2021, the Bucks have beaten the Bockers nine straight times.
Remarkably, NY is 11-1 against all other (non-Boston/Milwaukee) Eastern Conference teams this season, but they've been outclassed when matched up against the league's elite. The afternoon matinee at Madison Square Garden was the latest reminder that they are not on the same level. And it's not just Milwaukee's talent that gives the Knicks fits; their roster construction is an awful matchup for New York.
Giannis Antetokounmpo terrorizes every opponent, and he finished with 28 points, seven assists and seven rebounds in Saturday's victory. But it's the Bucks' ability to surround Giannis with snipers that has been a nightmare for New York.
Damian Lillard tallied 19 points (including three treys), nine rebounds and seven assists. Malik Beasley drilled five 3-pointers and finished with 19 points. Khris Middleton made a pair of triples while torching RJ Barrett and company en route to 20 points.
Yet it's not just Milwaukee's guards and wings that punish the Knicks. Brook Lopez is one of the league's best long-range gunners from the center spot, forcing opposing bigs to stay attached. Bobby Portis, sparked by some trash talk with Julius Randle, racked up 23 points and 11 boards in Saturday's victory. The Knicks' defense, often overly reliant on their drop-coverage scheme, has been carved to shreds by the Bucks.
Ominously, Isaiah Hartenstein picked up two early fouls in the first quarter, which compounded the Knicks' lack of depth up front with Mitchell Robinson sidelined. "Isaiah got in foul trouble to start, and it snowballed from there," Tom Thibodeau told reporters after the game, adding, "Every aspect of the game, we were a step behind."
"They've got a lot of weapons, so you've got to fly around, and there were times where we did it and times we didn't do as well as we should have," Thibodeau said. "Every aspect of the game we were a step behind, a low-energy type game. We've got to bounce back, we didn't move without the ball, didn't run the floor like we usually do. We need those hustle points."
All told, Milwaukee converted 53% of their FGs on Saturday, including half of their 32 three-point attempts.
The Bucks have shot 50% or better from behind the arc four times this season. Three of those four games have come against New York.
In their three games vs. Milwaukee, the Knicks are allowing 128.7 points per contest, and 19.7 made 3PTs (on 54% shooting from downtown).
The Bucks are averaging more points per game vs. the Knicks than any opponent they've faced this season.
Unfortunately for New York, they have to get right back in the ring with Milwaukee, as the Bucks will look to make it an even ten straight wins over New York when the two teams square off at noon on Christmas Day.
Other Takeaways and Knicks Notes:
🏀 RJ Barrett's excellent start to the 2023-24 season seems like a lifetime ago. RJ could not snap out of his slump on Saturday, missing 12 of the 17 shots he got up.
Ever since returning from his migraine/illness in mid-November, Barrett has been incredibly inefficient. During this 16-game stretch, he is shooting 38.7% from the floor and 26.0% three-point territory.
Of the 67 players who have averaged at least 14 FG attempts per game since November 15th, Barrett is the only player in the NBA shooting below 39% from the field and below 27% from downtown.
Over the Knicks' last 15 games:
Immanuel Quickley has a plus/minus of +86 in 316 minutes.
RJ Barrett has a plus/minus of -72 in 428 minutes.
In many ways, RJ is the Knicks X-Factor. They need him to get back on track. And quickly. Or his minutes should go to Quickley.
🏀 The Knicks' loss to Milwaukee can't be pinned on Jalen Brunson, who had another phenomenal offensive showing at MSG. JB finished with 36 points, three rebounds, seven assists, one block, and three 3-pointers in 37 minutes. He shot 15-of-26 from the field and 3-of-3 from the foul line.
There has been a lot of talk recently, sparked partly by Becky Hammon's comments on ESPN, about Brunson and his perceived inability to carry the Knicks to the promised land. A few thoughts on this topic…
First and foremost, the fact that folks are discussing whether or not Brunson is one of the five or so current first-ballot HOF superstars in the NBA capable of single-handedly carrying a team to a title is evidence of how great JB has played since arriving in New York.
Remember, a few months before the Knicks signed JB, the Mavs reportedly refused to offer him a four-year, $55 million contract. When the Knicks pursued Brunson in free agency, plenty of pundits argued that signing JB would be a massive mistake that would set the franchise back.
Now, Brunson is on pace to become just the second player in NBA history to average 25+ points and 3+ made 3PTs per game while shooting over 45% from three-point range. The only other player in this club is Steph Curry in 2015-16 (the year he became the first player to win the MVP award by a unanimous vote.)
In addition, after leading all players in total points scored in the first round of the 2022 playoffs, Brunson was also dominant for New York in the 2023 postseason. He led NY past the Cavs in round one and then averaged 31 points, five rebounds and six assists per game (while shooting over 50% from the floor) against the vaunted Heat defense that gave Tatum and Brown fits in the ECF.
To recap, the conversation has shifted from:
He's not a starting PG in the NBA
to
The Knicks shouldn’t him offer him a decent contract, he’s not worth it
to
He was pretty good in the regular season, but let's see if he can do it in the playoffs again
to
Okay, he's an All-Star caliber player, but is he All-NBA level?
to
Well, he's not Jordan or LeBron.
🏀 When asked about Becky Hammon's comments on Brunson, here was Josh Hart's response: "People are gonna say stupid s--- all they want. At the end of the day, the beauty about him, he doesn't care about what other people say. He cares about winning, and he cares about success."
🏀 Isaiah Hartenstein also did all he could to keep New York within shouting distance of Milwaukee on Saturday. He scored 12 points (on 4-of-5 FGs and 4-of-4 FTs) and ripped down 13 rebounds, seven of which came on the offensive end. Replacing the NBA's best offensive rebounder in Mitch Rob, iHart has more than held his own.
In fact, since Mitchell Robinson went down on Dec. 8th in Boston, Hartenstein has grabbed more offensive boards (45) than any player in the NBA.
However, it's ugly behind iHart. We all love Taj Gibson, but the Knicks cannot rely on him as the team's backup center for the next two weeks, let alone the next two months. Not only is Gibson a liability when he's on the floor (especially offensively, when the Knicks are effectively playing 4 on 5), but iHart has to play passively when he gets in foul trouble, as was the case in the first half vs. Milwaukee. It's simply not sustainable going forward.
🏀 Before the Bucks game, the Knicks announced they signed center Dmytro Skapintsev to a two-way contract. A 25-year-old Ukranian, Skapintsev played for the Knicks during the Summer League and was averaging 4.3 points and 4.4 rebounds for the Westchester Knicks in the G League. (They waived Jaylen Martin to make room for Skapintsev.)
He made his NBA debut on Saturday, playing one minute in crunch time. If he sees the floor in future games, the Knicks are in trouble.
In case you missed it, I detailed some players the Knicks could target via trade or if they are granted a Disabled Player Exception.
🏀 Speaking of the Westchester Knicks, they won the 2023 G League Winter Showcase on Friday, defeating the Indiana Mad Ants 107-99 to take home the Showcase Cup. Point guard Brandon Goodwin, who tallied 13 points and 13 dimes in the final, was named Showcase MVP.
🏀 Next Up: As noted above, the Bucks head back to MSG to take on New York at noon on Monday - the first game on the NBA's Christmas Day slate.
Merry Christmas Everybody!!!