Last night wasn’t the most fun experience around as the Bucks dropped a road game in Detroit, 94-99, but they’ll get an immediate chance to redeem this evening when they host a surprisingly competent New York Knicks team. Tonight is actually the third game in the season series between these two teams which sits currently at one win a piece. Injuries will be the story for Milwaukee tonight, and the ascendance of rookie phenom Kristaps Porzingis shall hold the spotlight as well this evening. Let’s get to the preview! (By the way, it is Star Wars night at the Bradley Center. Go and get one of these shirts, if you’ve got interest).

The Logistics

When – 7:30 PM Central

Where – BMO Harris Bradley Center, Milwaukee, WI

TV & Radio – FS Wisconsin; 620 WTMJ

Probable Starters

New York Knicks (10-10) Milwaukee Bucks (7-13) Jose Calderon PG Michael Carter-Williams/Tyler Ennis Arron Afflalo SG OJ Mayo Carmelo Anthony SF Khris Middleton Kristaps Porzingis PF Giannis Antetokounmpo Robin Lopez C Greg Monroe

Storylines of the Night

Knicks Update

Yes, at 10-10, the Knicks can officially be declared as one of the league’s biggest surprises. After a tragic 17-65 2014-15 season, the Knicks may have gotten one of the steals of the draft in Latvian 7’3″ Wunderkind Kristaps Porzingis. His sheer size, athleticism, and ability to stretch the floor with effective shooting across the court make him an unreal load to handle for most any defender. Per 36 minutes, he’s averaging together 18.1 points (43.8% overall, 35.7% from 3), 12.0 rebounds, and 2.6 blocks. He’s got the accolades to back up those impressive stats, being named the Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month for the month of November. The experiment with Giannis defending the 4 hasn’t turned out excellently thus far, so a clash of length this evening should be fun to watch.

Elsewhere, the injuries that plagued the Knicks early in the year have subsided for now with there actually being no notable problems across the board. They’re excellent when it comes to rebounding the ball (a noted weakness for Milwaukee), block without abandon, and actually possess a top 4 defense regarding opponent eFG%. Their ratings on defense and offense sit at just about league average, though any improvement over last season can be viewed as a huge positive. Whether they’ll actually compete and get into the playoffs has yet to be determined, but they’re certainly not a team to be taken lightly.

So, Uh, What About PGs?

If you were watching last night (I’ll pray that you weren’t for your own sake) you would’ve seen Jerryd Bayless go down in the 4th quarter with a nasty little left ankle sprain. He’ll presumably be out this evening, and with Greivis Vasquez already having to sit out the last string of games due to issues of his own, the point guard corps will be as depleted as it has been all season long. Michael Carter-Williams or Tyler Ennis will presumably get the chance to start, though head coach Jason Kidd has been reluctant in the recent past to give either serious burn if avoidable. Perhaps some odd experiment will occur instead as Kidd continues to mix and match to find his perfect lineup. OJ at the 1? Maybe Rashad Vaughn follows up play time last night with the first start of his career? Giannis?!?! Keep an eye at the starting lineups, though one would imagine Ennis getting the nod to make the most sense given his tendencies to be a bit gun-shy with the ball in his hands.

Of all the things the Bucks did remarkably poorly last night, it was shooting the 3 ball. Given the tendency for the offense to flow around the interior, any attempts from outside are simply a bonus, though given the abysmal defensive ratings the team has put up all season, any poorly handled offensive possession can come back and bite hard. A flowing pass-first offense started to shine from time to time last night, particularly in the 2nd quarter as the Bucks pulled the game to a reasonable distance before going iso ball to end the half and falling behind by 10 thanks to plenty of timely turnovers and easy baskets at the rim for Detroit. What the answer for Milwaukee is isn’t clear apparently to anyone, but if they have any plans to compete in an increasingly dire situation, then that needed change will have to happen sooner than later.

Or maybe they’re planning on secret tanking the rest of the year. Who knows? Go Bucks!