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2023-24 Game Thread: Knicks @ Bucks (In-Season Tournament Knockout Stage Opener, which is totally a thing)

After a seven week hiatus, the Knicks head to Milwaukee to take on the Bucks in the start (for them) of the NBA’s knockout stage in their In-Season Tournament.

This Tournament is perfect for the Knicks, because they try to win every single game, while other teams don’t, and I think that this will give them a big advantage tonight, and moving forward.

We already have seen a big upset, and the Knicks are good enough that it’s not even really that big of an upset.

So I’m thinking that the Knicks move on. They might just win this whole damn thing!

Let’s go, Knicks!

Winning is the key, all the way to 53!

186 replies on “2023-24 Game Thread: Knicks @ Bucks (In-Season Tournament Knockout Stage Opener, which is totally a thing)”

I hope we win this because I really want to see the team with the fastest pace play the team with the slowest pace for the cup.

that’s the 6th time grimes has started this year while putting up 0,0,0 pts asts rebs in the first q

Deja vu from the 1st matchup, Bucks bench scrubs enter the game and start bombing away from 3pt range.

At least Grimes seemed to keep Dame in check, and he hasn’t necessarily been doing as much as last year

We’re going to have a hard time keeping up if they hit a 3 every time down and we settle for 2

We’re going to have a hard time keeping up if they hit a 3 every time down and we settle for 2

i think the last in pace thing may be working for us, it doesn’t seem to make sense, but it does seem to work, particularly if we’re able to reduce the amount of turnovers committed…

edit: and rebound like fiends…

We’re going to have a hard time keeping up if they hit a 3 every time down and we settle for 2

This was literally the one lesson to learn from the last time we played them, and here we are not shooting 3s

Randle apparently realized he was the central theme of KB today, and is doing his best version of Good Julius to shame us all.

Thibs mixing things up with his lineups,
I-Hart with a great impact

Yes, and Randle came out before the first quarter ended and came in again to play with the second unit. That’s a first for Thibs this season I think.

I know Bucks can score but this is Fizdale era defense by the Knicks tonight so far.

Not sure if Randle falling on defense is good or bad Randle because at least his feet are moving

Other than the hot 3-pt shooting it feels like the Knicks are getting better looks than the Bucks.

It’s crazy how much Brook Lopez plays drop coverage when defending pick n rolls.

Brunson has been pretty trash so far and the game is still within reach, this is manageable.

randle can’t complete that little pass to mitch withouth throwing 40 mph from 2 feet away…then he makes like its mitch’s fault..

Like the first game we played Milwaukee this season, they are killing us from the three point line. It doesn’t look good for us.

Thought I heard the announcer say, “Antetokounmpo has three vowels.” I was like, no way, where’s Doogie?

It was fouls…

Brunson has been pretty trash so far and the game is still within reach, this is manageable.

That’s the key – he’s our main high percentage high volume 3 threat, and he’s been really off

To me Julius looks great tonight. Focused on both ends.

EDIT: Rama beat me to it. 😉

Randle, what a half so far… not only hitting shots but making Giannis work on defense and get 3 fouls.

randle can’t complete that little pass to mitch withouth throwing 40 mph from 2 feet away…then he makes like its mitch’s fault..

seriously, this has been going on for years – mitch don’t stand a chance with those 2 foot bullet passes…

he’s lucky julius don’t run in to him afterwards like he does RJ when something goes wrong…i think he likes grimes, and doesn’t really mess with jalen…

yeah, it’s pretty much just RJ and the other team he goes after…

So far Randle has probably had the best half of basketball of his career. It’s not just that he’s shooting so well. That can happen randomly. It’s that’s he’s taking all smart shots. He’s not forcing anything or putting himself into a position where he’s likely to turn the ball over.

It’s just tough to win when the other team is shooting as well as the Bucks so far.

Brunson is struggling a little. Time for him to wake up.

It’s entirely possible Randle takes the wrong meds at halftime and stinks in the second half, but at the very least the idea he can’t perform in a playoff game should be put to bed

I mean, c’mon, that rebound/pass from Julius to Devo for the three was gorgeous.

I really do expect every Brunson shot to go in, so this game has been weird

Superstar end of the quarter for Lillard just carrying the Bucks on his back, but if the law of averages allows us to hit some threes this is still doable…

Best all-around half I have ever watched Julius play.
No forced shots, everything in the flow, engaged on defense.
He cares when he play Giannis and he and Portis hate each other since the “Year Of The Power Forwards”, so he’s really motivated…

Very fun game.

P.S.
you’re right Geo, no bitching with the refs 🙂

victory is in the joy of watching this fun basketball game, and wait – that’s our laundry there…

really nice team play…impressive – the bucks just have better top end talent on their roster…hopefully our starters can play close to even, and our bench can play a little ahead…

we’ll see in another 50, 60 minutes or so…

nailed it 🙂 :

he and Portis hate each other since the “Year Of The Power Forwards”, so he’e really motivated…

he don’t take his hands off portis when he guards him…

On the one hand, if I’m Thibs I don’t know how to stop the Bucks from 3, which is a worry.

On the other, if I’m the Bucks I’m thinking, we’re absolutely killing it from 3 and they’re right with us. Reason to worry.

just noticed…julius isn’t talking much to the refs…

I think he’s been better about it all year

I’m still too old school, I don’t enjoy such an open game with so many wide open shots and God awful defensive effort. But if the Knicks somehow win this game I’ll be all for it!

The Bucks shot 65% from the floor at 70% from three and they aren’t blowing us out.

Thibs is blowing a gasket, though.

We’re hitting 2s at an unsustainable rate and they’re hitting 3s at an unsustainable rate, come on law of averages, we need you in the 2nd half.

if I’m the Bucks I’m thinking, we’re absolutely killing it from 3 and they’re right with us. Reason to worry.

Like that moment in the first movie when Apollo is looking at Rocky who just won’t go down 😉

If I’m reading the play-by-play right, Dame scored 13 in the final 3min on 3-3 fg (all 3s) and 2-2 fts. No other Buck scored

All that scoring and Grimes posted a 0-0 0-0 0-0.

If he can’t score in this game just kick him to the curb.

Brunson trying to chase Giannis down was both inspiring and kind of sad…

Not a night to complain about Randle, but wtf was he doing when Giannis picked up that loose ball??

Tried to pass to RJ, ball was deflected

He wanted no part of Giannis on that loose ball though

Thibs during his post-game press conference was clearly pissed after the Detroit game about the defense, can’t imagine how he’ll be feeling after this game.

I think I meant the previous possession when he got in trouble. RJ was open but Julius went to the fallaway. And, yeah, no loose ball dive. Haha. Wonder if Thibs pissed him off at the half.

If we make 10 threes in a row we will still be shooting worse from three than Milwaukee.

0-4 vs Celtics and Bucks with 6 more games against them this season, good times….

First bad shot from Julius. Would not pass to RJ. Steady, boys.

Yeah, but there was one second on the clock. The Knicks offense didn’t create a shot so they hope he could bail them out at the end.

We’re back at laudanum as our halftime drink of choice…

tonight it was a 12 pack of “Milwaukee’s Best”…

I was wondering if Mitch was playing, but after seeing him get stoned at the rim and then blown by by Lopez, he’s definitely in there…

As if this night couldn’t get any worse the Yankees for some reason are trading for Alex Verdugo who I can’t fucking stand.

Game isn’t over yet. Lots of runs left.

Meanwhile, I understand the frustration with Grimes, but his D against Dame has been very good.

Dame has 21 pts on 10 shots. Grimes’ D hasn’t been that good.

This is as close to an empty gym as you can get in the NBA. If he can’t score tonight, he should be fired.

I don’t have the stats, but I think most of those points were not against Grimes. Notice as soon as Grimes is out Dame drives too the rim for an easy 2.

Not complaining about Julius at all. He’s attacking like crazy and playing like an MVP so far. Let’s get Giannis a few more fouls and let JB go to work.

As if this night couldn’t get any worse the Yankees for some reason are trading for Alex Verdugo who I can’t fucking stand.

OMG… and he has legal issues to solve!
Why Cashman, why?

Again, I don’t care how good your defense is if 0-1 with 0 FTA, 0 assists and 1 rebound in 22 minutes is your median box score production

Yeah, it’s fucking annoying that the Bucks are getting this lucky on the 3s right on this damn game.

Grimes – 18 mins
IQ – 13 mins
DDV – 10 mins

Come on, Thibs. Open the doghouse.

Giannis has nine made threes this year in 20 games. Four of them are against the Knicks.

He has more threes tonight than Brunson, RJ, Grimes and Hart combined, and as many as any Knicks player.

1. Lopez has effectively taken Mitch out of the game

2. Grimes is a zero on offense even if he’s playing good D

3. RJ is being old RJ

4. Randle, despite the incredible boxscore stats leads the team with a -15

It’s time for Thibs to come out of his coma and play Quickley and Brunson together or start DDV instead of Grimes until we make trade. Can it be more obvious? We can’t have Mitch and Grimes doing nothing and RJ being RJ.

All that said, it’s hard to beat a team that never misses a 3.

I *think* Dame has only scored 5pts with Grimes in and his other 18 when he sits

Thibs needs to be fired for his half time speeches.

“Okay guys, Articles three and four of the Uniform Commercial Code. The negotiable instrument; party’s contract liability. Pay attention, Julius.”

Hart making a huge difference immediately. Let Randle run with this unit instead of RJ.

With this level of production, even if Grimes was a multiple dpoy level player he would still be unplayable. I really don’t get what has happened with him.

Giannis has nine made threes this year in 20 games. Four of them are against the Knicks.

Grimes FTAs on the season or Giannis 3pm vs the Knicks?

The Knicks are losing,
the Rangers are getting crushed in Ottawa,
the Yankees traded for Verdugo.

Not my best sport night of the year so far… 😣

With this level of production, even if Grimes was a multiple dpoy level player he would still be unplayable. I really don’t get what has happened with him.

Frank was more aggressive.

Very, very frustrating game on all levels, just wasting the best Randle game of the season.

I was thinking of going to see the Westchester Knicks on Sunday. Hopefully Grimes will be playing.

Grimes is crap but IQ not really making the case tonight, either. Where are his points?

Well this all sucks but the Verdugo trade seems fine to me. It’s not going to affect the Soto pursuit at all, and sadly we got our as-of-now second best OF at the cost of 3 organizational non-entities.

I was just thinking maybe Grimes needs some minutes with the Westies to get his confidence or whatever back

The offense has been acceptable but the Bucks are 20-31 from 3 so it is not going to cut it

IQ’s RFA stock dropping like a stone.

Meanwhile, credit to the Bucks, I know they are shooting unsustainably lights out but they are really good.

Randle, despite the incredible boxscore stats leads the team with a -15

I’m not holding it against Randle that Milwaukee hasn’t missed a shot. But it is noteworthy that Randle’s brilliance seems to be happening in total isolation on a night all his teammates are struggling.

Verdugo is barely a league average hitter with very little power. Plus he’s a fucking douchebag who can’t really play CF so doesn’t necessarily fit well if they get Soto. He’s a FA after 2024 so he’s just a rental but doesn’t really make much sense which seems to be the prerequisite for every Cashman trade lately.

i think my martial arts instructor used to call this type of life experience the “zen slap”….

we need to win the last three minutes in case the points count for next year’s ist

Idk, if we do make it I think we’re required to play MIL, BOS, & DEN in 63 straight road games next year

Only bright spot in this second half is seeing some usually unplayed bench players at the end.

Idk, if we do make it I think we’re required to play MIL, BOS, & DEN in 63 straight road games next year

Hahaha. So nice we show it twice.

Thibs emptying the cupboard now. At least he’s not trying to break everyone out of spite.

Also a treat to see our Sideshow Bob covering their Sideshow Bob.

Verdugo is barely a league average hitter with very little power.

A barely above league average hitter would’ve been our third best hitter last year. I don’t like that anymore than you but trading nothing for your incumbent third best hitter who makes no money is a no-brainer.

If we get Soto we patch together CF with Verdugo/Judge/Pereira until Jasson gets back and then Verdugo becomes a good 4th OF/pinch hitter/injury depth.

If we can find a platoon partner for him, even better. 115 career wRC+ against righties.

Hopefully this embarrassment leads to lineup and rotational changes like the blowout vs Dallas lead to last year.

Just a wondering, did Thibs’ decision to run, run, run in the first half backfire? We got here as the slowest paced team in the NBA, why change now?

That might be the least impactful game I ever saw Mitch play in which he wasn’t in foul trouble.

Hopefully this embarrassment leads to lineup and rotational changes like the blowout vs Dallas lead to last year.

I’m doubtful. Thibs was on the brink of being fired last year before he made changes. We can’t beat the elite teams but we’ve been fine against everyone else.

If I did make a change, I’d swap both RJ and Grimes for DiVo and Hart.

Maybe Hartenstein for Mitch at some point too. Mitch has been the bigger liability in a number of these games.

It’s not an empirical observation but playing against teams with true superstars really drives home how badly we need one of those guys. Brunson and Randle have to work their asses of to create offense, and to their credit they often do in fact score or create a basket for someone else.

But then you watch Giannis and Dame get the points back in their sleep. It’s not sustainable for us to try to match that for 48 minutes, let alone in a 7 game series.

Ridiculous 3pt shooting by the Bucks. Expect Randle to play like shit for the next week. He was completely out of his head in the 4th.

Maybe it’s just my impression, but I try to hear the crowd and to me this game sounded like a “regular one”.
Maybe Indiana and Sacramento fans are just hungrier for some kind of “win”, while for Bucks fans, champions not long ago, it was business as usual…

Behold the inevitable:

Quentin Grimes was openly frustrated with his role just now. Said it’s tough to find a rhythm when he rarely touches the ball, stands in the corner and gets subbed out after missing one shot.— Stefan Bondy (@SbondyNBA) December 6, 2023

if the bucks shoot 40% on their 3s they still win… the knicks have had their share of games with impossible 3pt shooting also … sometimes the variance bug bites you back….

The worst part about Grimes’ quote is that he’s specifically going against quotes from Thibs where he harps alot about shooting when you’re open and not passing up shots. He specifically praised DDV the other night about never hesitating to shoot, I guess Grimes didn’t get the memo.

‘Quentin Grimes was openly frustrated with his role just now.’

Trade him to the Pacers for a jar of mayonnaise!

Grimes issue is that for a guy who’s only real contribution is 3pt shooting.. is that he doesn’t actually shoot it all that well…. for a guy who’s 3par is like in the 70s… with an assisted fg% in the 70s… that’s a 3pt specialist and those guys should be shooting in the 40s… he never really shot the ball well enough at the line to reliably get there…

and like maybe his defense is good.. but his other box score contributions is too microscopic to tolerate that level of non participation when he’s asked to put it on the floor… donte is good at 36% 3s for his career because he contributes elsewhere and it shows……. if grimes shoots 36% he should be in spain or france….

This is way too early in the season to have both Hart and Grimes complaining about their roles.

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Quentin Grimes was openly frustrated with his role just now. Said it’s tough to find a rhythm when he rarely touches the ball, stands in the corner and gets subbed out after missing one shot.— Stefan Bondy (@SbondyNBA) December 6, 2023

Finally he demonstrates an ego! That’s actually great news.

This is way too early in the season to have both Hart and Grimes complaining about their roles.

Yeah, there’s friction there. Probably DiVo’s minutes, and also Brunson being a shoot first pg.

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