Milwaukee Bucks: Takeaways from 92-90 win over New York Knicks

Parker completes recovery

With 5:25 remaining in the first quarter, Jabari Parker made his way to the scorers table for the first time this season. He was greeted by a standing ovation from the entire arena, including the opposing bench, as he made his way onto the court.

On his first offensive possession, he was defended in isolation by Enes Kanter. In a magical moment, Parker feinted toward the baseline, then confidently rose up and hit a jumper.

The crowd was ecstatic, and this definitely felt like the culmination of the forward’s long rehab from ACL surgery. Parker, however, was just getting started.

Exuding sheer joy, Parker attacked relentlessly whenever he got the ball. While there was a sense that Jabari would not be a game changer in his first night back on the court, the former Blue Devil was just that.

He was arguably the Bucks’ best offensive player in the first half, going 4-of-7 from the field through two quarters. He was just fine on defense as well, showing the quickness to keep his body in front of driving defenders. Additionally, he held up in the post against Kanter (17 points and 18 rebounds) a couple of times.

Aside from one drive when he came up short on a dunk attempt, there was nothing to suggest a lack of explosion or athleticism on behalf of the Bucks’ prized fourth-year scorer. The outlook is bright for the rest of his season.

It turned out that the Bucks needed every one of Parker’s contributions on this particular night, as the game went down to the wire.