The NBA schedule certainly didn’t provide the Knicks a present for Christmas.
Their next two games during the festive period, on Saturday then again on Christmas, come against the Bucks, who sit second in the Eastern Conference and possess the third-best record in the league.
The Knicks already have lost to the Bucks twice this season in their two previous matchups, the second of which eliminated them from the In-Season Tournament.
The Knicks advancing to the In-Season Tournament quarterfinals resulted in them having to face the Bucks five times this year.
“Each time you play, you learn more,” head coach Tom Thibodeau said Friday. “They’re playing at a very high level. One of the most explosive offenses in the league. When you have a guy like Giannis [Antetokounmpo] and [Damian Lillard] and [Khris] Middleton and they’ve surrounded them with — you add [Brook] Lopez in and all the different weapons. [Cameron] Payne has done a really good job. Bobby Portis. They’re deep. Their numbers tell you how good they are.”
The Bucks entered Friday night’s slate of games averaging the second-most points in the NBA (124.4) and with the league’s third-best offensive rating (120.2).
The Knicks had no answer for that offense in the most-recent loss, a 146-122 shellacking on Dec. 5.
The Bucks shot 60.4 percent from the field and 60.5 percent from 3-point range, paced by Antetokounmpo’s 35 points and Lillard’s 28.
“We can obviously defend a lot better,” Julius Randle said. “Particularly the three-point [line]. Obviously [it is] harder said than done. Knowing that Giannis presents a lot of offensive firepower the way he attacks the basket in transition and stuff. You know what Dame brings to the game so you know those two guys are a lot to deal with. … They represent a challenge. We’re up for it. I think we’ll be better.”
The Knicks have made a concerted effort to get the ball to Randle more on the move and in transition so that he can avoid double-teams defenses often throw at him.
“He’s probably doing it more consistently now,” Thibodeau said. “And I think those are ways he can get easier baskets without the defense locked into him. I think what’s happened is there’s sort of been a progression to it, because the first thing he had to do was prove that he can score consistently, which he’s done, and then the double teams have come. And now, he’s got to find different ways where he can get those scoring opportunities.”
during a Knicks’ loss to the Bucks earlier this season. USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Con
“I think he’s done a really good job of running the floor, moving without the ball, getting downhill, generating speed on the catch.”
You’re a mean one, Mr. Randle.
He dressed up as the Grinch for his son Kyden, who is a huge fan of the character, on Thursday.
“My son, he loves the Grinch,” Randle said. “My goodness, he loves the Grinch. He was scared as hell, man. He was pointing at it, hitting the TV, and then the Grinch came in real life and his ass was shook.”