By Ryan Kullak
For the past two years, Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks have pummeled the Knicks and their fans into submission. Not only have the Bucks seemingly won every game in recent memory, but Knicks fans were also left with nightmarish clips of watching the Greek Freak jump over former Knick Tim Hardaway for a fast break alley-oop dunk.
However, in an amazing turn of events the Knicks were able to beat the Bucks and reigning MVP on Sunday night with the final score being 130-110. Antetokounmpo finished the game with 27 points and 13 rebounds and was dominant in the paint all game long. However, the Knicks played him smartly and challenged him to hit his perimeter shots then met him with Julius Randle and Mitchell Robinson at the rim.
Kris Middleton played second fiddle for the Bucks all game having sliced up the Knicks defense when running the pick-and-roll with Antetokounmpo. Middleton, however, struggled shooting from deep which was the theme of the game for the Bucks as the whole team shot 18.4% from 3-point land on the night. The only other notable performance for the Bucks was Bobby Portis in his return to the Garden after playing for the Knicks last season. Portis finished with 17 points and 7 rebounds coming off the bench for the Bucks and provided a spark for the team.
The Knicks as a whole played a great game and the team had amazing shooting percentages across the board, shooting 54% from the field, 59.3% from beyond the arc, and 81.5% from the free throw line.
The biggest performance in the game was from Julius Randle who was able to matchup against the reigning MVP all game and proved just how much he has improved and reinvented his game. Randle finished the game with 29 points, 14 rebounds, and 7 assists while shooting around 50% from the field, but was 3-5 from 3-point land and a clean 10-11 from the charity strip.
The second biggest performance for the Knicks was from Elfrid Payton who had played miserably in his playing time so far this season. After not scoring a single point in the last game against the 76ers, Payton stayed after the game to get extra work in to fix his shot. The extra work most definitely paid off as Payton shot 12- of-16 from the field and a perfect 3/3 from deep while scoring 27 points and dishing 7 assists. Payton’s aggressive play against the Bucks unlocked a whole new aspect of the offense for the Knicks as players were able to find themselves open off the ball and knockdown open shots.
Alec Burks was one of those guys who was able to thrive even more with Payton drawing more defenders. Burks was able to get open off the ball and was left open over the screen a majority of the time when he ran the pick and roll. Burks has been impressive in every game so far that he has played for the Knicks and followed it up again with another 18 points and 5 assists in only 21 minutes off the bench. He also did it very efficiently shooting 5-of-7 from the field, 4-of-5 from deep, and 4-of-5 from the free throw line. Burks was pulled from the game early with a minor ankle sprain, but the team didn’t want to risk anything considering the score at the time.
When looking at the young players specifically there were a couple of notable performances. RJ Barret played a solid two-way game all night and saw himself finish with 17 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists. Barret definitely had a bounce back performance from the awful game he played against the 76ers, but he was still struggling with his jumpshot. Barret’s jumper still needs to be unlocked for him to be a face for the franchise, but Knicks fans should really like what they see from the young man so far in 2020-2021.
The other notable performance for the Knicks was from Frank Ntilikina. Ntilikina has always been an amazing defender, but his struggles on offense hold him back from playing a larger role on the team. The problem with Ntilikina’s offensive game is a mixture of his lack of shooting ability, and his lack of aggressiveness and ability to even take an open shot, let alone hit it. Ntilikina has found himself deep down the rotation for the Knicks, but due to injuries to Immanuel Quickley and Dennis Smith Jr. he was pushed into the rotation and played meaningful minutes. Ntilikina was almost a complete non-factor in the game until he put on a short shooting spectacle late from downtown to put the dagger in the back of the Bucks. He finished the game with only 12 points, but shot 4-of-4 from deep and shocked some fans with how aggressive he was.
The other two young players to note were Mitchell Robinson and Kevin Knox. Both of them didn’t really impress anyone with their play in this game. Both were involved in the game for sure and played a high effort game, but neither of their statistics matched their effort.
The Knicks next game will be up against the 3-0 Cleveland Cavaliers in The Land. The Knicks will again be without both first-round draft picks Immanuel Quickley and Obi Toppin. Veteran points guards Austin Rivers and Dennis Smith Jr. were both also ruled out from the game as Alec Burks was downgraded to doubtful. Without all the injuries the Knicks would try to capitalize on the Cavaliers weak defensive guard play, but with so many guards missing for themselves, it will be interesting to see how the Knicks attack their opponents defense.
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