Milwaukee Bucks vs New York Knicks Regular Season Game Preview
Only 3 home games remain in the 2023-2024 NBA Regular Season
The (47-30) Milwaukee Bucks take on the (45-32) New York Knicks Sunday Evening in downtown Milwaukee at the beer keg. This is the fifth time this season these teams have played. Right now Milwaukee leads the season series 3-1. Milwaukee is also in the midst of a strange 3-game losing streak.
In this space what matters most is the NBA playoffs. The Bucks should also shoot for a 50-win season because of the symbolic nature of that measure in NBA circles.
Patient fans understand that we all will remember more how devastating a first-round playoff exit was last year to the Miami Heat. So, resting some guys beforehand is not a terrible idea. (Giannis and Dame are both “GTD” or game-time-decisions.) But everyone wants to see this team start drumming up some momentum for an NBA playoff run.
Related: Bucks vs Raptors Preview
Vegas has the Bucks at a 48% chance to win this game against the Knicks and 3 point favorites. This is a game the Bucks should win. A win will help them get out of this weird funk in front of the hometown crowd.
Keys for the Milwaukee Bucks
Get stops on defense and create turnovers
Milwaukee can play defense, they just aren’t playing well right now. They need to play with more defensive intensity to try to generate turnovers.
Under Head Coach Rivers, this team does not really turn over the ball much. (Currently 8th in the NBA.) No, instead this team just doesn’t make the other team turn the ball over much.
Lately, they have been slipping when it comes to winning the turnover battle; especially when it comes to exerting defensive pressure to cause turnovers.
Against Memphis, they only had 11 turnovers (good) but they only caused 8. So, they lost the turnover battle.
Against Washington, in a loss, the team had 12 turnovers. However, they only caused 10. (Another turnover battle loss.) Against New Orleans, in a loss, the team had 14 turnovers. Against LA, in a loss, the team also had 17 turnovers, only causing 14.
What it seems to come down to is if Milwaukee can do a better job of protecting the ball and win the “turnover battle” then they can win.
And not to compare basketball to football, but in the NFL the team that turns the ball over less almost always wins. According to Gitnux, 78% of NFL teams that win the turnover battle win the game.
The Bucks need to generate more turnovers than they have.
Run an Effective Pick N Roll
Milwaukee just does not seem to be running this play very much now. Unlike football where you have eleven moving players in the NBA, the pick-n-roll can be a play that works to a huge advantage. Because teams rarely attempt to play zone defense, most teams just need to get three guys out of the play and run two players at the defense.
The Milwaukee Bucks have Damian ‘Freakin’ Lillard and Giannis ‘Freakin’ Antetokounmpo: let’s see teams stop THAT pick-n-roll.
It’s almost playoff time; all gas and no brakes time.
The Opponent- The Knicks
Things are not looking as good for the Knicks as they had been looking a few months ago.
Julius Randle is out for the season. Losing Mitchell Robinson for the season also can not be understated: it has really hurt New York in the halfcourt. Isiah Haretenstein has taken his place and leads the team in rebounds.
The Knicks have always had the team-wide identity that they are strong in the halfcourt, that they are strong on defense and play at a “slower pace”. They are 19th in the NBA in team scoring, averaging 112 points per game. (By contrast, Milwaukee is 3rd in the NBA in scoring, averaging 119.9 points a game).
The Knicks have some good players. Jalen Brunson is an excellent point guard. The former Maverick leads the team in scoring 28.0 points per game. He is a floor general who attacks the basket.
RJ Barrett is gone. In his place, the Knicks have OG Anuboy. He averages around 15 a game.
The Knicks added former Buck Donte DiVincenzo over the offseason. He has really played well lately. He has played so well, in fact, many Bucks fans on Twitter have been asking, “Did we let a great one get away?”
nasty work by Donte DiVincenzo! pic.twitter.com/k7QWNtbSXY
— Knicks Nation (@KnicksNation) April 5, 2024
Things to tell your buddies while you are watching the game
- Donte DiVincenzo was the 18th overall pick for the Milwaukee Bucks in the 2018 draft. He played his college ball at Villanova.
- Over the past twenty years, the Milwaukee Bucks are 804-802.
Follow me on Twitter at @authorrudylb and check out my other writings at www.rudylb.com. Follow us at @WiSportsHeroics! For all things Wisconsin sports, click here! Also, check out our merch store for some amazing WSH merchandise!