MILWAUKEE — If you bought as much as microwave a Hot Pocket, you would possibly’ve missed it.
A 119-108 beatdown, administered by the Bucks towards the Knicks, was solid in a span of about 2 ½ minutes of sport clock within the third quarter.
The Bucks dropped 18 consecutive factors in that stretch Friday evening. And who was the catalyst? The Greek Freak, in fact.
Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 8 of his 30 factors throughout that third-quarter run, punishing the Knicks along with his dimension and brute energy. Tom Thibodeau’s squad fell behind by 24 and by no means recovered.
Antetokounmpo, the two-time MVP, completed one help shy of a triple-double with 14 rebounds minutes, which was truly a downgrade from his consecutive 40-point double-doubles heading into the sport. There had been occasions Friday evening, particularly within the fourth quarter, when he appeared to toy with whoever dared tried to face between him and the basket.
The Knicks allowed 70 factors within the second and third quarters, and this time their offense couldn’t sustain.
The Big-3 of RJ Barrett, Julius Randle and Jalen Brunson mixed for 37 factors on 13-of-37 capturing. Randle’s 14 factors in 31 minutes represented a season-low, and Barrett managed only one 3-pointer on seven makes an attempt.
Barrett’s poor capturing might be probably the most regarding development of the early season. He’s missed 24 of his 28 3-point makes an attempt this season, a difficulty that’s been linked to exerting extra power to persistently guard the opposition’s finest perimeter scorer.
Thibodeau, nonetheless, dismissed the concept Barrett has shouldered a higher defensive load than earlier seasons.
“No,” Thibodeau mentioned. “That’s comical.”
“We’ve been down this road before with him,” the coach added about Barrett’s capturing funk. “He usually starts slowly. He’ll get there. Again, the more he’s in, he’ll be back at night shooting threes. When he’s shooting a lot of threes he’s usually making a lot of threes.”
The Knicks entered on a three-game successful streak however the opponents — the Pistons, Magic and Hornets —are thought-about low-tier. The Bucks are title contenders, which prompted a reporter to ask Julius Randle about “outlets” claiming Friday was the Knicks’ first true take a look at.
“Luckily, I’m not an outlet,” Randle responded.
If the shops had been proper, the Knicks failed their huge examination.
Two nights earlier, Knicks heart Mitchell Robinson mentioned he was motivated to face Antetokounmpo as a result of it was a chance to “make my mark.” Robinson drew the task of the two-time MVP, alternating with Randle, however fouled too usually and was restricted to twenty minutes.
Antetokounmpo dunked on Robinson in transition within the first half, however the Knicks heart achieved revenge with a rejection within the fourth quarter.
The Bucks (4-0) had been lacking injured Khris Middleton, arguably their second-best participant, and struggled capturing Friday evening from past the arc (13-for-45).
But Antetokounmpo negated all of that.
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Source: www.bostonherald.com