The Milwaukee Bucks won a close game against the New York Knicks Wednesday night in Madison Square Garden, certainly an ugly win but a win nonetheless. The Milwaukee Bucks overcame some dreadful first half shooting, 19-of-51 (37.3 percent) on field goals and just 4-of-22 (18.2 percent) behind the 3-point line to win a game that came down to the last minute.
Thankfully this game was a tale of two halves as far as field goal shooting goes for the Bucks, in the second half the Bucks made 20-of-39 field goals (51.3 percent) and 6-of-13 on 3-pointers (46.2 percent) including the game clinching shot by Grayson Allen, who is the first takeaway.
Takeaways from Milwaukee Bucks ugly win vs New York Knicks: The Bucks need to keep Grayson Allen
Grayson Allen certainly cooled off from his crazy hot shooting from Sunday night, however still put his stamp all over this win over the Knicks. Grayson spent almost the entire game driving to the basket either looking to finish or drop off a pass to a teammate, a very underrated aspect of his game and one that Steve Novak loved talking about during the broadcast.
Grayson Allen finished the night with four assists and probably could have had more if not for a couple passes that weren’t reeled in or some fouls by the Knicks. Grayson also grabbed five rebounds.
On to scoring, Grayson Allen scored 11 points in this game, not a point total that leaps off the page, however Grayson Allen made one 3-point shot and it was the biggest shot of the entire game. Knicks guard Jalen Brunson had just made 1-of-2 free throws to tie the game at 103, Giannis was not in the game, Khris Middleton is still out, the Milwaukee Bucks need a closer, and Grayson Allen stepped up. Jrue Holiday swung the ball around to Grayson who turned and passed to Brook Lopez, Grayson followed the pass to Brook who handed the ball off, RJ Barrett went under Brook Lopez giving Grayson the space he needed to shoot essentially the game winning shot.
I wrote yesterday about Grayson Allen’s catch and shoot prowess and how the Bucks could essentially use him the way they would have used Jordan Clarkson, and there was no better time for Grayson to show that he is important to this team.
Not only did Grayson hit the dagger against the Knicks, he tied a career high in 3-pointers made against Dallas and he sits atop the NBA in some defensive metrics as well. Grayson Allen is currently number one in defensive rating for players that have played over 15 minutes per game for at least 15 games. Staying with the same criteria, Grayson is third in defensive win shares, surrounded by his teammates, Jrue Holiday, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Brook Lopez, who together occupy the top four spots in the NBA.
The Milwaukee Bucks need to keep Grayson Allen.
Takeaways from Milwaukee Bucks ugly win vs New York Knicks: Giannis Antetokounmpo continues putting the ball in the basket
Giannis Antetokounmpo increased his consecutive games with 30 or more points to five in the Milwaukee Bucks win on Wednesday night. Giannis, despite fouling out (on some questionable foul calls for his fourth and fifth fouls), finished with 37 points on 13-of-25 field goals including two 3-point makes on a season high eight attempts. Giannis did a lot of work around the rim including one mind bending finish around Mitchell Robinson where he spun on the right side of the rim, had a great rim protector on his back and somehow turned into Mr. Fantastic and used his left hand to finish on the opposite side of the rim.
In addition to his 37 points, Giannis also grabbed 13 rebounds, contributing to his 12th double double of the season, and seven assists. Only Luka Doncic has more 30+ points, 10+ rebounds and 5+ assist games this season.
Giannis struggled outside the 3-point line, was an efficient 11-for-17 inside the arc, but the area his shooting stood out the most was at the free throw line.
Giannis has changed his free throw routine again and now incorporates several deep breaths, no practicing his form and borders right on 10-11 seconds to complete. It is working though, Giannis made 9-of-12 free throws against the Knicks, starting an encouraging trend going back to last Wednesday. Over his last four games, Giannis is 33-for-45 on free throws, a respectable 73.3 percent, certainly a number Bucks fans can live with.
Takeaways from Milwaukee Bucks ugly win vs New York Knicks: Bucks did enough to win
I strongly believe this to be true, the Milwaukee Bucks are just scratching the surface of how good this team can be. They’ve played some very good and a little bit of bad basketball through their first 20 games, they’ve managed to win 15 of them, a very good start considering they’re missing their second best player who could be ready to play as early as tomorrow.
However, I don’t think this team has cohesively played all of their best basketball at the same time yet, Brook Lopez didn’t shoot well, Jevon Carter was quiet, Pat Connaughton struggled a bit but made some important plays in the second half, Giannis fouled out, Grayson only made one 3-pointer after making seven in his last game, the Bucks did not shoot well in the first half and the most egregious statistic to come out of this game, 19 offensive rebounds for the Knicks, 19.
Those 19 offensive rebounds led to 30! second chance points, essentially 30 percent of the Knicks entire scoring output came on second chances. The Milwaukee Bucks played very good defense in this game, forcing tough contested shots by Julius Randle (8-of-24) and Jalen Brunson (8-of-22), to make scoring hard for the Knicks who as a team shot 42-for-100 on field goals. Brook Lopez blocked two more shots, like he does, contributing to the six total by the Bucks, but the Bucks have to finish possessions better by rebounding.
This brings me back to my original point, the Milwaukee Bucks shot poorly in the first half, their best player fouled out, they allowed 19 offensive rebounds and 30 second chance points and still won the game!
This Milwaukee Bucks team, about to get Khris Middleton back, is scratching the surface of how absolutely dominant this team can be.
The Milwaukee Bucks play the Los Angeles Lakers at Fiserv Forum on Friday night, stay tuned for more analysis.