The Milwaukee Bucks were in Madison Square Garden Monday night to take on the New York Knicks. The Bucks trailed the Knicks at halftime and a slow third quarter saw the Knicks open a lead as large as 17 points. The Bucks didn’t give up and completed their largest comeback of the 2022-23 season and won the game 111-107. All five starters for the Bucks scored in double figures.
Fresh off of their ugliest loss of the season to the Hornets on Friday, the Bucks needed a signature win, finishing a large comeback against a team on a four-game win streak is a good win to pick up. Let’s look at some takeaways from the win.
Takeaways from Milwaukee Bucks comeback win over Knicks: Better forward play
Three big names that were unsung heroes of this game are Pat Connaughton, Joe Ingles and MarJon Beauchamp.
Pat Connaughton was in the starting lineup again and played a fantastic all-around game that helped the Bucks in every aspect of the game. Not only did he finish with 11 points by making some timely buckets, but Pat also grabbed a team-high 11 rebounds. Lastly, with Connaughton, his defense was crucial. Connaughton drew a ton of different defensive matchups including Jalen Brunson and Immanuel Quickley at times. However, the matchup I want to credit Connaughton for is defending Julius Randle. In the first quarter, with Jrue Holiday dealing with foul trouble, Pat Connaughton got back-to-back defensive stops while guarding the Knicks’ power forward.
Next is Joe Ingles, who is showing he’s getting closer to 100 percent in his recovery from last season’s ACL tear. Joe Ingles scored 17 points and shot 5-of-11 behind the 3-point line. Ingles also added three rebounds and five assists.
Lastly, rookie MarJon Beauchamp didn’t play a ton, just 11 minutes, but he played efficiently when on the floor. Beauchamp made 3-of-6 field goals and all three makes were needed. MarJon’s first make was a tip slam on a Jrue Holiday missed 3-point attempt, his other two were second half 3-pointers that held a lot of weight during the Bucks’ comeback. MarJon finished with eight points, five rebounds and an assist.
Takeaways from Milwaukee Bucks comeback win over Knicks: Jrue Holiday came alive at the perfect time
Jrue Holiday got off to a very tough start to this game, picking up three fouls in the first five minutes of the game. That foul trouble prompted an early substitution. When he returned he drew a size difference mismatch against Julius Randle. The Knicks targeted this matchup knowing Jrue had to allow some extra contact to avoid his fourth foul.
Looking at the box score and seeing that Jrue shot 5-for-14 from the field, however, two of his five field goals came at the most pivotal moment in the game. Jrue made a 3-point field goal to give the Bucks a four-point lead with 47.1 seconds left in the game. On the Bucks’ very next possession, Jrue made another step back from the same exact spot just with a toe on the 3-point line to extend the Bucks’ lead back to two points. Following some intentional fouls by the Knicks, Jrue also made a pair of free throws in the closing seconds, bringing his tally to seven points scored in the last 48 seconds of the game.
Not only did Jrue score seven points in the last minute, but he also assisted a 3-point make by Brook Lopez that broke a 97-97 tie and gave the Bucks the lead for good. Despite not having his best shooting game, Jrue Holiday firmly stated his presence in the minutes of this game.
Last thought on Jrue Holiday, it’s great seeing him fired up and letting some of his passion show, when a savvy veteran like Jrue Holiday shows emotion it certainly trickles down to the team and fanbase.
Takeaways from Milwaukee Bucks comeback win over Knicks: Bucks can go get Cam Reddish
With the New York Knicks playing without RJ Barrett, Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau still didn’t use Cam Reddish in this game against the Milwaukee Bucks. I named the Bucks as a potential suitor for Cam Reddish this past summer. That appears to at least be somewhat possible as it was reported by Ian Begley that the Bucks were among the teams that checked in on Cam Reddish.
Cam Reddish has been out of the Knicks’ main rotation for over a month, not having checked into a game since the Knicks’ loss to the Dallas Mavericks on December 3rd.
Reddish is under contract for this season at just under $6 million, meaning the Bucks would have to send out Jordan Nwora and George Hill, the former of whom can’t be traded until January 15th, to make the money work out. It’s possible the Knicks may ask for a second round pick to compensate for taking on George Hill’s expiring deal.
Acquiring Reddish would give the Bucks a 6′-foot-8 wing that can crack the rotation more often than Jordan Nwora has and would allow the Bucks to continue taking their time with Khris Middleton, who seems near a return given the fact that he’s traveling with the team on their road trip.
With Joe Ingles playing better, Connaughton giving valuable minutes, and the return of Khris Middleton looming, the Bucks may not need to make a cannonball-sized splash at the trade deadline, but a smooth high-dive splash may give the Bucks some flexibility and a small boost to get through the dog days of the NBA season.
Stay tuned for more Milwaukee Bucks analysis.