After a four-game road trip, the New York Knicks return home on Friday looking to end a two-game slump and facing a Milwaukee Bucks team playing the second leg of a back-to-back set.
Milwaukee snapped a six-game skid on Thursday with a 123-100 rout of the visiting Utah Jazz. Damian Lillard scored 34 points after putting up a combined 77 points in back-to-back losses to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Saturday and Monday.
Lillard has scored at least 33 points in four of the past five outings and at least 30 points in five of the Bucks’ eight games this season.
“Getting off to a rough start, it’s easy to get down on yourself and start to panic a little bit and worry,” Lillard said in his postgame interview with FanDuel Sports Network Wisconsin. “Tonight, we just came out with the right mentality.”
The Bucks’ other star is also playing well this season. Giannis Antetokounmpo is coming off of a 31-point, 16-rebound showing in the lopsided win on Thursday.
Antetokounmpo missed the game in Cleveland on Monday with an adductor injury, and his availability for the game Thursday was announced only a few hours before game time.
New York opened its road trip with wins against the Miami Heat and Detroit Pistons but slipped up in a 109-97 loss to the Houston Rockets on Monday and a 121-116 setback to the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday.
Karl-Anthony Towns scored 34 points against the Hawks. The All-Star forward, acquired in an offseason trade that sent Julius Randle to the Minnesota Timberwolves, went for 44 points in the Knicks’ win over the Heat on Oct. 30 to start the road trip.
Towns’ effort Wednesday was not enough for New York to weather the Atlanta trio of Trae Young, Jalen Johnson and Zaccharie Risacher combining for 79 points. Risacher, the No. 1 overall pick in the NBA Draft in June, erupted for a career-high 33 points.
The Knicks have surrendered an average of 118 points per game in their four losses this season. In three wins, New York has allowed 101 points per game.
Despite his scoring performance, Towns took responsibility for the Knicks getting beat in key areas such as rebounding and defending the interior.
“One of the things I’ve got to always do is instill energy into the game, and I came out sluggish. I take responsibility and accountability for that,” Towns said after the loss. “These guys work extremely hard. Our guards are working tremendously hard every night with the matchups with the way we are playing defense. I’ve got to do better.”
New York is allowing 51.4 points in the paint per game this season after giving up 58 to Atlanta — and that has all been without a player expected to be one of the team’s key interior players.
Precious Achiuwa has yet to appear this season due to a hamstring injury. The 25-year-old post player averaged 7.2 rebounds and 1.1 blocked shots per game in 49 appearances with the Knicks after being acquired from the Toronto Raptors during the 2023-24 season.
