The New York Knicks served as obvious kryptonite for the Milwaukee Bucks last season. In three tries, the Bucks didn't earn a single victory against the Knicks. Finally, after what felt like an eternity since the last time they got it done, Milwaukee is back in the win column against New York, taking down an Eastern Conference foe with a 121-111 nationally-televised victory.
Bucks finally beat the Knicks once again
Last season, the Knicks were the faster, younger, and more athletic team. The older, slower Bucks still put up fights, but in the end, Milwaukee just couldn't handle the mismatches. Jalen Brunson targeted the Bucks' lesser perimeter defenders often. Karl-Anthony Towns hunted Brook Lopez often. Wanting to beat teams like the Knicks was why Milwaukee tweaked the roster this summer.
This time around, the Milwaukee Bucks were better equipped to handle a foe like the Knicks.
While Jalen Brunson had another stellar game, scoring 36 points on 56 percent shooting, the Bucks made him work for every bucket. Whether it was Ryan Rollins, Giannis Antetokounmpo, or anyone else guarding him, the production wasn't as easy as it was last year. There is still work to do, but that is better than last year's efforts.
One of the reasons the Bucks pulled out the win was because they limited Towns, who had averaged over 25 points per game against Milwaukee last season. In this game, he put up just eight points on a vile 2-of-12 shooting. Myles Turner did a solid job of guarding him, but Kyle Kuzma deserves his flowers as well for guarding up and not letting the size mismatch hurt him.
On Milwaukee's end, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Ryan Rollins were the stars of this one.
The Greek Freak, who has been on an absolute tear this season, had another Herculean effort with 37 points, eight rebounds, and seven assists to go with two blocks and a steal. After a slow start, Giannis kicked it into gear in the second half and helped the Bucks crawl out of a daunting double-digit hole. Playing on the nationally televised stage against the Knicks certainly had him fired up.
Meanwhile, Ryan Rollins, filling in for the injured Kevin Porter Jr., poured in a career-high 25 points for the Milwaukee Bucks. He sank all four of his 3-point tries and added four more 2-point shots, proving he's more than capable of a larger role offensively. That goes without mentioning his four assists or four eye-popping steals. The Milwaukee Bucks may have a two-way star in the making.
The Milwaukee Bucks have three wins in their first four games of the new NBA season and will look to keep the ball rolling, especially as they get healthy.
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