The Milwaukee Bucks are aiming to go up 2-0 in the season series. They overcame Jalen Brunson’s 45 points in their last battle with the New York Knicks.
Catch the game tomorrow at 8:30 AM, Manila time.
AWAY: New York Knicks (12-7 ,6-4 AWAY)
Projected starting five:
- Jalen Brunson
- Quentin Grimes
- RJ Barrett
- Julius Randle
- Mitchell Robinson
As a classic quality of a Tom Thiboadeau-coached team, the Knicks are first in points allowed and defensive rating. They also enter tomorrow riding a three-game winning streak, and 10-3 over their last 13 games, averaging 114.4 points and allowing 106.5 per game in that span. What’s interesting is that stretch started after their 110-105 loss to the Bucks in early November.
Probable All-Star Jalen Brunson should once again headline the attack. He poured in 45 points in a losing effort when they last went to Milwaukee, which is a healthy amount of points regardless but hopefully not needed, especially since he’s the floor general. Julius Randle’s early struggles indirectly caused that volume of scoring, but he’s on a roll as of late, with 24.7/13.7/7/3 on 54.9% in his last three outings.
Third scorer RJ Barrett, meanwhile, is bricking a ton and isn’t looking good. He’s at a dreadful 34.4% clip over his last seven on an underwhelming 14.6 PPG.
HOME: Milwaukee Bucks (14-6, 9-1 HOME)
Projected starting five:
- Damian Lillard
- Malik Beasley
- Khris Middleton
- Giannis Antetokounmpo
- Brook Lopez
The Bucks enter having won nine of their last 11 games. They are scoring 125.5 points on 50.7% shooting over that span with a +8.4 net rating.
Things are looking good for the most part after an iffy 5-4 start. However, it’s still not free of ugly bumps as they–with a healthy starting five–recently lost to a Chicago Bulls team that didn’t have DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine.
We’ll see if Giannis Antetokounmpo (29.9 PPG, 10.8 RPG, 4.9 APG, 1.4 SPG, 1.4 BPG) and Damian Lillard (25.5 PPG, 6.9 APG) can be more focused tomorrow. Lillard’s battle with Brunson could be what decides the game.
While it’s nice that they were able to brush off Brunson’s 45-piece in that previous encounter, it seemed like they let the Knicks hang around when they could’ve put them away earlier and easier, especially with Brook Lopez recording eight blocks.
PREDICTION:
Handicap: The Bucks (-3.5) cover the spread.
Over/Under: The total goes under 224.5
