Fresh off a win at The Garden on Sunday, the Knicks head to Milwaukee seeking their first back-to-back wins since week one. New York enters the game at a lowly 3-8 record but looked good for a full game on Sunday for the first time since taking on the Cleveland Cavaliers. Carmelo Anthony is rolling, and J.R. Smith has filled in for Iman Shumpert nicely. With Shump feeling good and able to play tonight, it will be interesting to see who Derek Fisher starts at shooting guard tonight.
The Bucks come into tonight’s action at 5-5, but have won 3 of their last four games. All three of those wins have come against quality opponents: Memphis, OKC (although a very injury riddled team), and Miami. The Bucks have a relatively balanced scoring attack, however Brandon Knight has been slowly emerging as the player that he was projected to be at Kentucky. The young point guard is off to a great start averaging 18.3 points, 6 rebounds, and 6.4 assists in his first 10 games. He also leads the team in three point shooting at 40.5%, so the Knicks cannot afford to lose him on defense.
The Greek Freak, Giannis Antetokounmpo, could be a handful for Melo on the defensive end. With his quickness and length, Antetokounmpo poses a tough matchup for Anthony. The Knicks will need to find ways to get Melo involved early and force Antetokounmpo to fight through a lot of screens. Jabari Parker has been somewhat of a disappointment thus far this season after such a promising preseason. The rookie comes into tonight’s action averaging only 10.1 points and 5.6 rebounds on 42% shooting. He’s not alone on the rough shooting though as O.J. Mayo is currently under 40% from the field. Both have the potential to go off on any night, so the Knicks need to keep them off the board early in the game.
What to Watch For…
- Who Starts at Shooting Guard?
- J.R. Smith was electric on Sunday and played a critical role in the Knicks win against Denver. With Iman Shumpert expected to play tonight, will Fisher go with the hot hand and ease Shumpert back in, or will Shump start alongside Shane Larkin? Shumpert certainly has done nothing to lose his starting job, but it is hard to reward Smith by putting him back on the bench.
- Can The Knicks Defend The Three?
- The Knicks have done a terrible job this season identifying where the opponent’s shooters are on offense, often leaving wide open. The Bucks don’t have the kind of lethal shooter that warrants all the attention, but almost all of their players (outside of their centers) have the ability to knock down the three. Ersan Ilyasova always randomly kills the Knicks so it should be interesting to monitor how he does tonight.
- Will The Knicks Ever Overcome The Third Quarter of Doom?
- The Knicks have won the third quarter once in the last 8 games. With that being said, the one that they won put them in a great position to win before gagging in the fourth. They were fortunate to be up by over 20 points last game because they were outscored by 11 again in the third. This has to stop if the Knicks ever want to put a consistent win streak together.
A lot more positive vibes after last game. If they can carry them into tonight’s game, they should have a very good chance at winning. Recap after the game.