Milwaukee vs. New York: Bucks Trounce Knicks, 128-102

It was just another day at the office, as the Milwaukee Bucks blew out the New York Knicks 128-102 at Fiserv Forum on Tuesday evening.

The Bucks would waste absolutely no time racing out in front of this one. Milwaukee would groom a lead as large as 14 points at one point, thanks in part to Giannis Antetokounmpo’s nine points. However, Julius Randle and the Knicks would keep things close as the quarter wound down, slicing things to just single digits going into the second at 29-23.

The Bucks would extrapolate their lead throughout the second quarter, with the Knicks never really having an answer for either Antetokounmpo or Eric Bledsoe. The two would combine for 16 points in the period, making it difficult for New York to gain any momentum. At halftime, it was 65-40 in favor of the Bucks.

Similar to my Rapid Recap, I’m going to stop doing my game summary here. I mean, what else is there to say other than it’s the Knicks? Milwaukee just slammed the door on them and New York had no chance of making this one even relatively close to the -16.5 line Vegas set. When it was all wrapped up, the Bucks earned a 128-102 victory.

Giannis Antetokounmpo would have another casual night at the office, finishing with a game-high 37 points in just 22 minutes of action. Khris Middleton tacked on 17 points of his own on a nice 6-of-9 shooting.

For the Knicks, Julius Randle led the way with 25 points. Rookie RJ Barrett mixed in 22 of his own.

Three Observations

First quarter Dragan Bender minutes???

Well, can’t say that I was expecting that one. Early on, Mike Budenholzer went that route by giving Bender some first quarter action. All in all, he’d tally 21 minutes on the evening. He wouldn’t tally a point, but nonetheless, he showed some promise. He knew where to be, he knew his role, and wasn’t trying to mitigate the main playmakers. Now, what does this mean for DJ Wilson? We all know he’s been the odd man out on this Bucks team, and take a look at this quote from Mike Budenholzer:

At this point, I’ll be surprised if he’s on the roster past the trade deadline. It’ll be an interesting few weeks coming up.

Eric Bledsoe keeps making shots.

The hot streak continues for the Bledshow. He was a force to be reckoned with on the tail-end of the road trip, averaging 26.5 points and shooting 56.8 percent from the floor in the final two games (including 40 percent from three). That’d continue last night, as he knocked down a pair of threes. The confidence he’s been exhibiting will surely be big moving forward and hopefully in the playoffs. It’s been great seeing it blossom, especially with the guidance being provided by Kyle Korver and others. And, in a hat tip to my friend Eric, y’all should go read his excellent piece over at The Athletic:

Za’Darius Smith and Aaron Jones were showed on the jumbotron and the place with nuts.

I know, I know. I could probably throw this in the Bonus Bucks Bits part of my article, but I had to include it here. I have a bad case of Packers Fever. When those two were shown on the jumbotron, it received the loudest applause of the evening:

Here’s footage:

In regards of the game Sunday, I’m currently sitting at a 30-40 percent chance of Green Bay. Ask me on Saturday how I feel and I’ll probably say over 50 percent. I love playoff Packer football, folks. Let me know your predictions in the comments below.

Bonus Bucks Bits

• Last night was Milwaukee’s third consecutive and NBA-high 13th victory of the season by 20+ points. Business as usual. This team keeps steamrolling teams, and it never gets old.
• The Bucks and Knicks have now faced off each other three times this season. The Knicks have never led the Bucks.
• Ersan keeps his contributions coming. He’d finish with 14 points off the bench on a valuable 6-of-10 shooting from the floor. It’d also include a pair of threes from deep. Despite never ever having a super flashy stat line, his impact is felt every night.
• Last, this has become my favorite game:

For those wondering, here’s what the Knicks would end up tweeting: