New York— On Saturday, the Milwaukee Bucks(22-7) won their seventh consecutive game by defeating the New York Knicks(16-12) 130-111. Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 28 points, seven assists, and seven rebounds, while Bobby Portis added 23 points and 11 boards in the opening game of the two-game series.

Khris Middleton contributed 20 points for the Bucks in their victory against the Knicks, marking their ninth consecutive win. They aim to continue their success on Monday, opening the NBA’s Christmas schedule on national TV.

This series has been one of blow-outs recently. The NBA Cup, In-Season Tournament game last month was 146-122. This is nothing new for us Knicks fans unfortunately.

Lillard had 19 points, nine rebounds and seven assists for the Bucks, and Malik made five 3-pointes of his 19 points.

“They’ve just seen us at different stages of the season, as far as who we are as a team. I think right now we’re at our best as far as this season goes,” Damian Lillard said.

The Knicks have definitely run into a wall with the top teams in the east.

“They’ve got a lot of weapons, so you’ve got to fly around and there’s times where we did it and times where we didn’t do it as well as we should have,” Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said. “But every aspect of the game we were a step behind.”

Jalen Brunson continues to be a bright spot against the Bucks. Last month he has 45 points in a loss, yesterday he added 36. Julius Randle scored 26 points and had seven rebounds on the evening.

Making his second straight start in place of the injured Jericho Sims, Isaiah Hartenstein notched his second double-double of the season. Both notable performances occurred within the last week, with the 25-year-old center securing double-digit rebounds in four consecutive games.

Hartenstein maintains averages of 8.1 points, 11.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists, and 1.8 blocks per game, logging 31.0 minutes nightly across eight games since Mitchell Robinson’s season-ending ankle injury.

From my standpoint the glaring concern right now is what is happening with the Knicks top defense? In our last four games the Knicks are averaging 122.5 points against per game, that is 10 points higher than the 112 point season average.

Up next the Knicks play the Bucks, again on Christmas Day. For all the latest New York Knicks and NBA news follow @vinquezada1 on X.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Vinny Loves You!

#NBA #FearTheDeer #NewYorkForever

By Vincent Quezada

Photo Credit: SNY/ AP