Bucks' flying high; Knicks treading water (Jan 06, 2017)
MILWAUKEE -- The New York Knicks became the latest victim of Giannis Antetokounmpo's rise to NBA stardom Wednesday night, when the 22-year-old sank a step-back jumper at the buzzer to give the Milwaukee Bucks a 105-104 victory at Madison Square Garden.
Friday night, they'll try to stop Antetokounmpo and the Bucks -- as well as snap a season-long six-game winning streak -- when the teams meet in the back end of a home-and-home set at the Bradley Center.
Antetokounmpo has played himself into consideration for a starting role at the NBA All-Star game next month in New Orleans. With 500,663 votes, he's currently second among Eastern Conference front court players behind Cleveland's LeBron James and has a healthy lead over James' teammate, Kevin Love, who's in third place.
"He should be there, no question about it," center Greg Monroe told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "He's definitely playing at an all-star level. It's just making sure we're doing the things we need to do as a team so there's a spot for him in the All-Star Game.
"He's been working on his game nonstop. You can see it; the stuff he does night in and night out, the energy he brings and the plays he makes for himself and others. It's just a testament to how hard he's been working."
Antetokounmpo isn't Milwaukee's only All-Star candidate, either. Forward Jabari Parker is starting to look like the kind of game-changing playmaker the Bucks envisioned when he was taken second overall in the 2014 draft.
"I could care less about the voting," Bucks coach Jason Kidd said. "As long as we have players representing the Milwaukee Bucks, that's all I care about. Right now you look at what Giannis and Jabari are doing, start or not start, hopefully, we can get both of those guys there.
"You've got to win. You look at their numbers, but it comes down to winning. If the team is winning, you have a better chance of having multiple guys go."
As those two have grown, so have the Bucks, who bring a three-game winning streak and an 18-16 record into their rematch Friday with the Knicks, who come in looking to get back on track and salvage what had been an encouraging season.
The Knicks were two games above .500 when they took the court against the Celtics on Christmas Day but it's gone all downhill from there.
"They're in the locker room tired right now," coach Jeff Hornacek, whose team has allowed at least 100 points in each of the six losses during the streak. "That's all you can ask. That's making strides. If we continue to do that, we're going to win games."
Making matters worse is the uncertain status of Kristaps Porzingis, who has missed New York's last three games with a sore Achilles.
Aside from his 20.1 points and 7.9 rebounds per game, the Knicks lose a strong defensive presence in the front court without him; a presence that would go a long way in neutralizing the Antetokounmpo/Parker tandem down low.
"This club's going through adversity right now. There's no question about it," Joakim Noah said. "Losing sucks. But we just got to bounce back."
New York has won or tied each of the last five season series with the Bucks, including a 2-2 mark against Milwaukee a year ago.
