NFL
By: Melo Williams
The Milwaukee Bucks will host the visiting New York Knicks at the Fiserv Forum tonight for some NBA Friday night basketball.
The Knicks are coming off of a huge win over the Charlotte Hornets in overtime Wednesday night. Their only loss came against the Memphis Grizzlies and are (3-1) after winning three straight since.
The Bucks are the last undefeated team in the league though they have only played three games. Their three wins came against the Philadelphia 76ers, Houston Rockets, and Brooklyn Nets.
Keys to Victory:
Offensively, the Bucks are shooting 47.1% from the floor, which has them ranked 12th in the NBA. Milwaukee has accounted for 325 pts so far this year (108.3 per game) while averaging 49.7 rebounds per game. Milwaukee is sharing the ball averaging 24.7 assists per game (16th in the NBA) and turning the ball over 16.3 times per game.
Feed Giannis the ball in the post where he’s unstoppable! Giannis Antetokounmpo is averaging 36 points per game which is 2nd in the NBA behind Luka Doncic. He’s also averaging 13 rebounds, 5.3 assists, two blocks, and 0.7 steals per game.
Brook Lopez and Bobby Portis must play a huge role tonight. Lopez and Portis both must take the opportunities the defense gives them. Not only must they take their open shots, they must make their shots because the Knicks’ offense is gelling right now and getting solid production from their bench from players like Cam Reddish.
Jrue Holiday is another weapon for the Bucks who isn’t getting talked about much at all. He’s quietly averaging 13.3 points, 5 rebounds, and 7.3 assists per game, along with 1.3 steals showing why he’s one of the better defensive and on-ball guard defenders in the NBA.
Grayson Allen has been in somewhat of a shooting slump to start this season. Tonight against the Knicks would be a great time for him to shoot himself out of that slump. New York will do what most teams do defensively against the Bucks and that is try to contain Giannis but make the team around him beat you. Allen must look for his shot tonight against the Knicks who will double Giannis most of the night. If Allen is hitting his shots tonight, it’ll be a long night for the visiting New York Knicks.
Defensively:
The Bucks on defense are ranked 1st in the league in points given up per game with 97.3. They have forced 12.7 turnovers per game and allow teams to shoot 40.5% from the field (1st in the league).
Brook Lopez recorded his second consecutive game with at least five blocks on Wednesday. He one-upped his five-block performance from Saturday night and finished the game with six blocks.
Brook Lopez is very important to the Bucks and especially what Milwaukee do on defense. The Bucks have the best defensive rating in the NBA this season at 98.3, per NBA com. So much of the defensive brilliance of the team can be attributed to Lopez’s return. Lopez leads the NBA in blocks per game, averaging 4.3 blocks. Lopez can be looked at as a candidate for the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year Award this season if he keeps up with his solid defensive play.
Summary:
It’s going to be tough for the Bucks to defend at a high level when the Knicks have proven to have multiple guys score. The Knicks have five players averaging double digits so the defense will have to play a big part in winning. The Bucks also have the most dominant and the best player in the world in Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Knicks don’t have a player on its roster to slow him down tonight in his quest for championship number two.
Milwaukee Bucks improve to 4-0 beating the New York Knicks 123-109.
