Two top-six teams in the Eastern Conference, both missing key stars, face off Friday night as the Milwaukee Bucks host the New York Knicks.
New York saw its two-game win streak come to an end on Wednesday as the visiting Los Angeles Clippers came back to win 126-113.
“They were fresh on two days of rest (and) I knew we would have to be at our best,” Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau said. “We’re more than capable of overcoming adversity but didn’t get it done.”
The Knicks were playing on the second night of a back-to-back.
Milwaukee (40-32) is riding a two-game losing skid and lost three of their five games on a road trip through the Western Conference road trip when they fell 127-117 to the Denver Nuggets on Wednesday.
Neither Giannis Antetokounmpo (foot) or Damian Lillard (calf) played for Milwaukee, but the Bucks still kept it close against a healthy Nuggets squad until the final minutes.
Brook Lopez led the way for the Bucks with 26 points. As the only big man available on the Milwaukee roster, Lopez has scored at least 21 points in three straight games.
“Brook was great all night with 26 points,” Bucks head coach Doc Rivers said. “A lot of the times he was on (Nikola) Jokic (and) he worked his butt off. We had a chance to win that game. I couldn’t be more proud of our guys right now.”
Antetokounmpo leads the Bucks with 30.2 points and 12.0 rebounds per game. Lillard averages 24.9 points, 7.1 assists and 1.2 steals, while Lopez adds 13 points, 5.1 rebounds and 1.9 blocks.
Jalen Brunson leads New York (45-27) with 26.3 points and 7.4 assists per game. Karl-Anthony Towns averages 24.6 points and a team-best 12.9 rebounds, which ranks second in the NBA.
But Brunson (ankle) remains out for New York and will have his status updated in the coming days. Miles McBride (groin) and Cameron Payne (ankle) also will be out against the Bucks.
Lillard will remain out for Milwaukee, with Antetokounmpo considered day-to-day. Milwaukee’s Jericho Sims (thumb) and Bobby Portis (suspension) also won’t play against the Knicks
The Knicks have won four in a row against Milwaukee, with two of those coming this season after they won 116-94 at home in November and 140-106 at home in January.
Both teams were at full strength in the latter matchup and Brunson dominated with 44 points, along with 30 points and 18 boards from Towns.
Antetokounmpo scored 24 points for the Bucks and grabbed 13 boards, while Lillard added 22. New York shot 58.0 from the floor while Milwaukee went just 10-for-34 from beyond the arc.
The Bucks had won nine consecutive games over New York prior to the Knicks four-game streak.
New York sits sixth in the NBA in offensive rating and 13th in defensive rating, while Milwaukee excels more on the defensive end ranking 10th in defensive rating compared to 15th in offensive rating.
