 led by as many as 47 and cruised behind Antetokounmpo, who pulled down his 10th rebound with 4:43 left in the second quarter for his NBA-leading 20th double-double.The reigning MVP shot 10 of 14 from the field, including 3 of 4 from 3-point range, while playing 22 minutes. He exited with nearly five minutes left in the third quarter and the Bucks ahead 93-54.Milwaukee's winning streak is the longest in the NBA this season and the franchise's longest since the 1981-82 season. The Bucks own the league's best record, ahead of the Los Angeles Lakers (17-3).The Knicks (4-17) posed little challenge as they shot just 4 of 24 in the first period and trailed 33-15 after one.D. J. Wilson added a career-high 19 points, Khris Middleton had 16 and George Hill 14 for the Bucks, who improved to 9-1 at home.The only Antetokounmpo playing in the fourth quarter was Giannis' older brother Thanasis, who drew cheers from the crowd when he slipped in for a layup early in the period. Thanasis Antetokounmpo finished with 10 points and three assists.Julius Randle paced New York with 19 points and Damyean Dotson had 15. The Knicks shot 30.8% from the field (28 of 91) and made 25.6% of their 3-point tries (10 of 39).TIP-INSKnicks: Point guard Frank Ntilikina was out after injuring his back in New York's 113-104 loss to Boston on Sunday at Madison Square Garden. Dennis Smith Jr. started in his place and went 1 for 7 from the field while scoring four points. Veteran forward Marcus Morris (cervical spasms) missed his second consecutive game.Bucks: Middleton returned to the starting lineup after coming off the bench the previous three games. He averaged 14.3 points in his three games as a reserve, after being sidelined for seven games with a bruised left thigh. Middleton had 10 points in the first six minutes of the game. . Brook Lopez (back soreness) was out for a second straight game, but coach Mike Budenholzer was optimistic the 7-foot-1 center would return soon. ''Giving him a couple games is going to be really wise in the long run,'' Budenholzer said. ''Unless something changes he will travel with us and we're hopeful he will play Wednesday (at Detroit).'' DOMINANT GIANNISGiannis Antetokounmpo was named the Eastern Conference player of the week after he averaged 34.8 points, 11.3 rebounds and four assists in four games last week. That included a 50-point outburst against Utah, the second 50-point game of his career.Knicks coach David Fizdale said Antetokounmpo's playmaking skills are a huge part of his game.''I think that's where the misconception is,'' Fizdale said. ''Giannis has been a creator since back when Jason (Kidd) was coaching. Jason had him playing point. He's an unselfish player; he's always been a player who likes to get his teammates involved. Since Bud (Budenholzer) has been here, the space that he's created around him has opened a whole set of issues for other teams.'' UP NEXTKnicks: Host the Denver Nuggets on Thursday.Bucks: At the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday.---More NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA and https://twitter.com/-Sports)
Dec 02, 2019Giannis Antetokounmpo made his NBA debut in a five-minute cameo against the New York Knicks on Oct. 30, 2013, at Madison Square Garden, and he scored 10 points in his first NBA start while facing the Knicks on Dec. 18, 2013.Six years later, Antetokounmpo has made a habit of consistently dominating the Knicks, and these days the forward and the rest of the Milwaukee Bucks are running roughshod over the rest of the NBA.Antetokounmpo and the Bucks attempt to run their winning streak to 12 games Monday night when they host the Knicks.The Bucks are 8-1 in their last nine meetings, the one loss a 136-134 overtime affair in New York on Dec. 1, 2018, when Milwaukee blew a 16-point lead.For his career, Antetokounmpo is averaging 20.7 points on 50.2 percent shooting, and Milwaukee is 15-3 against the Knicks with him in the starting lineup since the 2013-14 season. Antetokounmpo has scored at least 30 points in his last five games against the Knicks and has a double-double in his last eight games against New York.Milwaukee's three losses this season are by a combined 19 points. Since losing on a buzzer-beating 3-pointer by Bojan Bogdanovic Nov. 8 in Utah, the Bucks are on their longest winning streak since also winning 11 in a row Jan. 9-Feb. 2, 1985.A win on Monday would give Milwaukee 12 straight victories for the first time since Jan. 26-Feb. 21, 1982, and would be its sixth winning streak of at least 12 games in team history.Antetokounmpo is averaging 30.9 points and 13.4 rebounds this season, and during Milwaukee's winning streak he is averaging 32.4 points and 12.7 rebounds while shooting 55.1 percent.Antetokounmpo had a double-double in every game this season until Saturday's 137-96 rout over Charlotte when he finished with 26 points and nine rebounds while playing 19:37. His season-opening streak of double-doubles left him well short of Bill Walton's 34 straight in 1976-77 with Portland."He's doing amazing things and there's more to come," coach Mike Budenholzer said after Milwaukee's most lopsided win this season. "We're trying to have conversations with him about being healthy and fresh and how important that is. Pretty incredible if you're being mentioned with the greats of our game." The Knicks enter at 4-16, matching their worst 20-game start in team history. The Knicks matched the mark set by the 2014-15 team when they took a 113-104 home loss to the Boston Celtics on Sunday afternoon.The Knicks are on a six-game losing streak and 2-8 since team president Steve Mills gave a lengthy press conference following a blowout home loss to Cleveland on Nov. 10. The Knicks sustained their latest loss by getting outscored 32-19 in the fourth and 26-11 in the last 8:01, two days after blowing a 16-point lead to Philadelphia."We came out and played hard," Knicks rookie RJ Barrett said. "Even in those moments we still got to stick together and make the right plays." Julius Randle led the Knicks with 26 points but New York was without leading scorer Marcus Morris (neck spasms) and lost starting point guard Frank Ntilikina (sore back) after the first quarter. Morris, who leads the Knicks in scoring at 18.7 points per game, was replaced by struggling second-year forward Kevin Knox, who scored 11 after not playing Friday.--Field Level Media
Looking for More Picks?
You can browse all the individual handicapper picks below.
New York Knicks
Milwaukee Bucks
Pick Center
NBA
FINAL (12/2/2019)
LightningPlays
