Bucks Get Blown Out in a Weird Night in New York

New York Knicks are the recent laughingstock of the NBA. Everyone likes to clown on the Knicks. It is easy to make jokes and get a ton of engagement because of it. But Knicks are starting to look like a team that has their shit together. They hired Leon Rose who had a calm offseason and didn’t try to make any outrageous splashes. New York hired Tom Thibodeau. The beatdown of the Bucks is a step in the right direction. This game was so fucking weird though. Milwaukee has some weird losses in the Bud era, but this might be the weirdest as they get blown out 130-110. Here’s one example of the weird shit that went on last night.
The Bucks shot 25 "wide open" threes last night and made 7 threes overall.
The Knicks shot 11 "wide open" threes and made 16 threes overall.
I'm actually not too worried yet. That game was weird.
— Nathan Marzion (@nathanmarzion) December 28, 2020
What went wrong: Bucks couldn’t shoot to save their soul – Look, I know the three-pointers are king in the NBA. They matter more than anything else in the game. But I would like it if the Bucks attack more and stop shooting. Not sure when that actually needs to happen, but Milwaukee should have focused more on getting to the basket and less on the three-point line. If you’re wondering if this is an aberration, it is likely. They shot 40% and 55% from deep in the first two games.
What also went wrong: Bucks need to fix their bench – I don’t care too much about this loss, but Mike Budenholzer needs to give up this idea of earned minutes for the bench. It’s very Jason Kidd to me. Jordan Nwora and Sam Merrill need to get more time with the Bucks’ bench. DJ Augustin will figure things out. Pat Connaughton is a bigger mess than a girl who has an entire wardrobe of Call Her Daddy merch. DJ Wilson doesn’t deserve to be out there. We’ll see if it changes in Miami.
Player of the Game: Julius Randle
Honorable Mention: Giannis Antetokounmpo
Next up: Bucks head to Miami for a two-game series against the Heat. Miami hasn’t played since Christmas. They were raining threes against the Pelicans, and we’ll see what happens on Tuesday night. The Bucks have not played well there in the past. I haven’t been completely sold on Miami though this year. Take 1 of 2 here and things are fine.
Charlie.