The Milwaukee Bucks just experienced arguably their ugliest loss of the season, losing to the New York Knicks 117-85 after awful second and fourth quarters. Jaime Jaquez Jr. led all Bucks starters with 16 points, while Kasparas Jakucionis led the bench scoring with 11 points and four assists. Meanwhile, Jalen Brunson led the Knicks with 23 points, while Marquette’s own (and newest enemy of the Swifties) Tyler Kolek led New York’s bench with 12.
NBA.com Box Score
Game Recap
With Tyler Herro sitting out, Ryan Rollins
got his first start since Halloween against Cleveland. The Bucks hit the first field goal of the game—a Turner triple from the top of the key—and hung tough in the first half of the quarter, tying it at 13 on the heels of five quick points and two assists from Rollins. The Knicks defense, though, proved stout, with Mikal Bridges rejecting Nate Ament’s first attempt on the fast break. After a quick five points put the home side ahead, Jenkins called a timeout. Some positives for the Bucks followed out of the break, with Ament spinning through double coverage for the fancy and-one finish for his first points of the night, ending an 8-0 Knicks run. Kasparas Jakucionis kept the scoreboard ticking over as the Bucks exited the first quarter down 26-21.
The Bucks got off to a slow start in the second quarter, with Kel’el Ware scoring the lone field goal nearly four minutes in. Notably, AJ Green and Ousmane Dieng started alongside Ware and Jaquez Jr., and while it was an interesting experiment, the Bucks simply didn’t have the speed to keep up with the Knicks on either end. Unfortunately, the Bucks went on another cold stretch, with a Dieng three being the only made bucket in a long stretch. Finally, Ament finally broke the seal after subbing back in and immediately picking off an Andre Drummond pass to finish in transition with balance and poise, looking more like a seasoned veteran than a rookie. Ament proved to be the lone silver lining during their regularly scheduled dumpster-fire quarter, finishing the half with a team-high seven points and two steals. Bucks enter halftime down 58-34.
Thankfully, Milwaukee got out to a faster start in the third, scoring nine quick points, a run capped off by a Jaquez steal and layup plus the harm. After turning it over on the next few possessions, the Bucks got back on track and went on an electric 15-3 run, forcing a New York timeout with the deficit down to 14. For the rest of the quarter, it seemed like almost everyone chipped in: Rollins, Jaquez, Ament, and Jakucionis all finished in double figures as the Bucks outscored the Knicks 38-27 and cut the deficit to 13, 85-72. This was largely because Milwaukee shot 64% from deep in the third and played a more physical brand of defense.
The visitors kept applying pressure to open the final frame with a quick bucket from Ware off a lob from Jaquez. Unfortunately, that was as close as they got, as the home side kept wearing them down, especially on the glass. Milwaukee scored just five points over four minutes, with the Knicks dominating the Bucks’ frontcourt. On the night, Kuzma and Turner combined for eight points, eight rebounds, five assists, two blocks, and three turnovers on 2/11 shooting. At least there was the rare Bogoljub Markovic sighting, and Bogo made a smooth pass to Dieng in transition for an easy lay-up. That was about the only real garbage-time highlight, though, as the Knicks kept pouring it in. After mounting a comeback of sorts, the Bucks went out with a whimper.
Stat That Stood Out
59: The number of rebounds the Knicks got, and yes, of course, they won the rebound battle 59-32.
Obscene Overreaction
Three Bucks starters combined for just 11 points. One of those starters was Burries, a rookie who will likely take steps forward and backward all season. The other two are Kuzma and Turner, and if the first 10 games were not enough evidence that they need to be benched, then this game should be. The Bucks are starting to lose the identity they built over the first eight games, when they ranked top five in rebounding and second-chance points. Ware played more effectively and put in better effort, so start him and Ament. If the Bucks are going to lose, they may as well do it while developing young players.
