Knicks 114 Bucks 117: Too Little Too Late

The Knicks redefined bad basketball for a stretch tonight in Milwaukee, and it certainly came back to haunt them. Making a valiant effort to have a historic comeback in the fourth quarter, the Knicks came up short down the stretch. It was almost like the Bucks were trying to lose at one point, but the Knicks just couldn’t catch up.

The Knicks played very well offensively. Tonight, that certainly wasn’t the problem. Defense on the other hand is a reoccurring problem. We know going into every game that the chances of the Knicks having a complete defensive meltdown is likely, but tonight was of epic proportion. The Bucks went on a 30-9 run to end the second quarter. Are you kidding me? And if someone has the audacity to point to Amar’e Stoudemire and say it was his fault, then I will kindly point to the Bucks 14-2 run when Stoudemire was taken out for “bad defense.”

The Knicks as a team are a nightmare defensively. They gave up 117 points to the Milwaukee Bucks! That’s the first time the Bucks have scored over 100 points this season. Nice D guys. Remember before the game when I told you that Ersan Ilyasova always randomly kills the Knicks? Well it happened again. Ilyasova lead the Bucks in scoring with 20 points on 8-10 (!) shooting, including the game clinching jumper. This guy has to circle the Knick games on his calendar at home.

The game was peppered with offensive highlights for the Knicks, but the defensive low-lights clearly out weigh them tonight.

Some Highlights…

• Iman Shumpert is probably at home throwing darts at a picture of Woody’s face. Who is this player that has taken over as the new and improved Iman Shumpert? I will be the first to admit he has completely surprised me with the strides he has made offensively. Tonight was one of his best games yet: 21 points on 9-14 shooting to go along with 8 rebounds and 8 assists. And did anyone see that reverse dunk on Giannis Antetokounmpo in crunch time? I guess that hip is fine.
• Carmelo Anthony continued his efficient offensive game. In 38 minutes (yikes), Melo had 26 points on 10-17 shooting. He also had 6 rebounds and 5 assists for a +3 on the night. He is the least of their problems right now.
• Amar’e Stoudemire was great off the bench. In 24 minutes STAT had 14 points on 5-6 shooting, 5 rebounds, and 4 assists! That has to be a career high in passes in a game for Stoudemire. He has certainly found his way back to being able to have a big positive impact on a game. Amar’e was +12 on the night.
• Tim Hardaway Jr. was killing it tonight! The sophomore has seen up and down results thus far this year based off of inconsistent playing time. Tonight he made the most of his time and had 24 points in 29 minutes for a team high +18. He needs to see more consistent playing time.

Some Low-lights…

• The Knicks allowed 55% shooting from the field, including 53% from three. You’re not going to win many games like that.
• The Second Quarter was flat out atrocious. The Knicks were outscored 36-19, including a 30-9 run. It’s hard to figure how they put together such brutal stretches of basketball.
• New York lost the rebounding game 44-28. Someone has to rebound if Derek Fisher randomly benches the only guy who wants to rebound (Quincy Acy).
• We all know my opinion on Travis Wear at this point. Seven shots in twelve minutes for -9, and might be a worse defender than Jason Smith.
• Speaking of Smith, the former starter seems to have fallen out of the rotation. He played just 6 minutes tonight, but still grabbed 3 rebounds for +4. He’ll randomly start next game.
• J.R. Smith was the opposite of the player he was on Sunday; 3-12 shooting and -16 overall.
• I’m not even going to comment on Samuel Dalembert‘s -20 performance.
• Jose Calderon is still hurt.

A major positive from the night was that Derek Fisher found a way to play all three of his shooting guards. Shumpert at the point really needs to be considered until Calderon can play. A major negative from the night was giving up 117 points to the Bucks.

They have a chance to bounce back tomorrow night in Minnesota. Let’s just hope wins come more often than every 8 games this time.