Lifeless Milwaukee gets boat-raced by New York
This was a miserable night for the Bucks on all fronts. Maybe they were tired coming off the back-to-back, but that shouldn’t excuse the total lack of focus displayed by just about everybody. Karl-Anthony Towns dominated with 32 points, while five other Knicks racked up double figures. For the Bucks, Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 24 points and had two blocks. Damian Lillard went 6/15 and was a -28 in his minutes.
Game Recap
The Knicks got out to the early lead behind three Karl-Anthony Towns makes from deep, along with a big dunk. Both Giannis and Dame were neutered early. Andre Jackson Jr. continued his solid play, hitting a three early and getting a high-flying block that was initially ruled a foul but challenged and reversed. Ryan Rollins came in late and nailed a three, but Milwaukee trailed 32-25 at quarter-time.
WHAT A BLOCK BY AJAX! pic.twitter.com/VNJ5oAgbyZ
— Milwaukee Bucks (@Bucks) November 9, 2024
The Knicks got a nice boost out of the break from former Marquette guard Tyler Kolek, who nailed a three and a driving layup. Milwaukee really stopped executing on offence and couldn’t generate good shots. Brook Lopez got exposed by KAT on the pick-and-pop, and Giannis had multiple silly turnovers. It was a horrible quarter for the Bucks, who looked disinterested. Knicks led 66-47 going into the locker room.
Milwaukee came out looking for more offence, starting AJ Green in place of Jackson, and Green immediately paid that trust off, hitting a three. But as the quarter progressed, this offence was not sustained. The focus on defense was very poor (as my Twitter post below indicates), and the Bucks couldn’t eat into the lead that much. The offensive execution left a lot to be desired. For example, Giannis shot consecutive fadeaway jumpers off no passes. Knicks led 91-72 at the conclusion of three quarters.
Simply not good enough. This ain’t the focus that wins you games pic.twitter.com/VZUQXrW5xP
— Jack Trehearne (@JackTrehearne) November 9, 2024
New York came out early running some good offence and forced the Milwaukee timeout. Before long, the Bucks’ deep bench was on, and this thing was done. Tyler Smith had some nice buckets on the interior and from outside, and a nice block to boot. Rollins also continued his nice stretch, commanding the third-string unit nicely with seven points.
Stat That Stood Out
It was the turnovers. Milwaukee gave the ball away twelve times, and New York had an insane fourteen offensive rebounds. Not going to win like that.
Support our site! | BreakingT | ESPN+ | ESPN+ 30 For 30 | fuboTV | Disney+