The last time the Milwaukee Bucks went up against the New York Knicks, Jalen Brunson exploded for 45 points on 17-of-20 shooting. The Bucks were still able to scrape out a 110-105 win against the Knicks, but there’s no denying that Brunson torched them during that early-season matchup.
Milwaukee will now want to prevent another offensive eruption from the Knicks star on Tuesday when they battle for a spot in the semifinals of the NBA’s In-Season Tournament.
Milwaukee Bucks Star Damian Lillard on Facing Jalen Brunson, Knicks
Bucks star Damian Lillard spoke to reporters prior to tip-off and it is clear that Milwaukee has spent a considerable amount of time preparing for Brunson, in particular. Dame acknowledged that they will need to hold Brunson down if they want to emerge with a victory on Tuesday:
“Jalen Brunson is aggressive,” Lillard said. “He’s playing with a lot of confidence and he’s the head of the snake. We gotta handle that.”
Learning From Past Mistakes
Lillard then spoke about Brunson’s heroics from their early-season matchup. Dame knows that the Bucks need to do a better job defensively if they want to emerge victorious in the IST quarterfinals:
“Brunson was getting places,” Dame said. “Everybody was just kinda getting what they wanted to get. We were in no man’s land a lot of times. We weren’t helping or stopping penetration or getting back on our guys. We gotta be sharper on our coverages.”
Dame, much like the rest of the Bucks, are completely locked in on Tuesday’s do-or-die game. They all know what’s at stake and they will do everything in their power to take down Brunson and the Knicks:
“Like I said, we just gotta take the challenge and protect home court,” he said. “Just knowing what’s at stake, we gotta win this game and move on.”
For More Wisconsin Sports:
Follow me on Twitter at @PaoloSongcoNBA, and follow us @WiSportsHeroics. Also, check out our Merchandise Here! Get 20% off with the code “WSH.” You can also reach out to Paolo Songco via email at pao.songco@gmail.com. To read more of our articles and keep up to date on the latest in ALL of Wisconsin sports, click here! Green Bay Packers, Milwaukee Brewers, Milwaukee Bucks, Wisconsin Badgers.
