The New York Knicks have been an all too familiar foe for the Milwaukee Bucks. Not only did these two teams battle it out on the court twice in the span of three days, but their Christmas Day matchup represented the fourth time the Bucks and the Knicks faced off this season.
Milwaukee was 3-0 entering Monday’s matchup, and it was clear that they had their Eastern Conference foe’s number. That wasn’t the case, though, as the Knicks upset the odds to secure a huge Christmas Day victory against the Bucks, 129-122.
Damian Lillard Speaks Out on Milwaukee Bucks Loss Vs. Knicks
For Damian Lillard, not much was different on Monday against the Knicks. According to the seven-time All-Star, he felt that it was a pretty similar contest between the two teams, except that this time around, the Bucks failed to deliver on their end of the bargain.
“This is our fourth time playing them, and the other three games, it was the same,” Lillard said, via Eric Nehm of The Athletic. “Every game has been pretty similar. We just have been able to do what we do a little bit better. They’re making 2s, we’re making 3s and getting free throws, too. We’ve been able to have better stretches though and tonight, we didn’t have one stretch of the game where we just kind of made them miss.
“We contested a little bit better in the short mid-range, the short 2s. They were able to get cleaner looks, some second-chance opportunities, some scramble situations where they fell into some timely 3s. We just weren’t able to have those stretches where we were good in those moments. On the road, a team you just beat, it’s tough to win a game when you’re giving those up.”
The Knicks had the lead for virtually the entire game, which had become a bit of a common scenario for the Bucks. However, more often than not, Milwaukee always seems to be able to pull off an inspiring comeback thanks to their execution down the stretch.
This obviously was not the case on Christmas Day, though. It was the Knicks who stepped it up in crunch time as they held off a furious comeback attempt from Lillard and Co.
As Dame implied, the Bucks are engaging in a dangerous game whenever they play from behind, and this won’t always work in their favor.
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