Bucks Zone

Offensive struggles main reason for Christmas Day loss to the New York Knicks

New York simply outgunned Milwaukee.
Matthew Dugandzic|
© Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports

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Milwaukee Bucks

Milwaukee has made New York its favorite prey, but before a sellout crowd and in a nationally televised game as part of the NBA’s five-game Christmas Day spectacle, the Bucks uncharacteristically failed to keep up with the Knicks.

What transpired on Monday night at the Madison Square Garden was something new as Milwaukee succumbed to New York in its sixth-straight Christmas Day appearance, 122-129.

It was only Milwaukee’s first loss to New York in their last ten meetings, and a faulty offensive performance was to blame for it.

“I thought they out-competed us today for the most part,” Bucks coach Adrian Griffin said.

Missed too many shots

New York ended the first quarter with 36 points on the board, but Milwaukee could only score 39 with only 4:39 left before halftime.

“I thought offensively we got some good looks, but we just couldn’t knock them down. And when you’re on the road, you get clean looks, you’ve got to knock them down,” said Griffin.

Prior to tip-off, the Bucks were 3-0 against the Knicks this season. They defeated the same NY squad in the first matchup of their two-game series on Saturday night, 130-111.

It turned out Milwaukee couldn’t duplicate their previous successes against New York due to a poor offensive showing that saw them shoot just 45-of-95 from the field for a 47.4 shooting percentage clip. New York made more than half of their attempts from the field by going 50-for-92.

Team effort did it for NY

Milwaukee’s total output was below its average of 132.4 points a game in the month of December, where it had gone 9-1 prior to the loss.

Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard each scored 32 points, but the Knicks had four players scoring at least 20 points apiece to offset the big scoring night of the two Bucks stars.

“We knew coming in everything that we were lined up for, and it is what it is,” Lillard said. “We got the first one, we came in for this one, they got off to a good start, they played a great game, and we just got outplayed.”

Falling to the Knicks after a long while resulted in the snapping of the Bucks’ season-high seven-game winning streak. Milwaukee, however, still stands on solid ground in the race for the best record in the Eastern Conference, as it remains in the second spot with a 22-8 record.

The Milwaukee Bucks beat the New York Knicks for their season-high 7th-straight win

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Matthew Dugandzic
MATTHEW DUGANDZIC

Matthew finished his bachelor's degree in Economics (Management) at the University of Split and got his master's degree in the same field at the University of Zadar. Whether it is playing the game as an undersized 6'3'' power forward or simply watching it, Matthew can't get enough of it. After all, he has been an avid NBA fan since the 2000s. But don't get him wrong, as Matthew still loves the old-school NBA and is a true student of the game. From on-court moments to off-court stuff, whether it's about the stars of modern-day basketball or legends of the game, Matthew covers every category of the NBA world and basketball in general, as long as it makes for an engaging and exciting story.