GAMEDAY: Milwaukee vs New York Knicks - 03/20/11

Head Coach Scott Skiles

On the win ...
"Obviously the good start carried us. We got off to a great start. We know when we're sitting over there it's probably not going to go through the game, we're probably not going to win 128-36, it's probably not going to happen. They outscored us in the second and third [quarters] by 20 points, 63-43, I believe is what it was. It was a pretty good defensive game, got good offensive contributions from guys, moved the ball well again, and played pretty well again."

On keys to the first quarter outburst ...
"When that happens, it's always two things - it's always you usually have some pretty good juice and the other team's maybe a little bit slow to start. The ball was moving, as I said, guys were knocking down shots, our defense was pretty solid. Obviously we needed that cushion, that was big for us."

Guard John Salmons

On which is more valuable - if the Bucks would've blown out the Knicks, or closing out a tight game against a tough opponent ...
"You always want the blowout, you never want it to come down to what it came down to, but at the same time, we did hit some good shots at the end. We got some stops, so that helped us to grow a little bit. If we get a big lead like that, there is no way possible you can give a lead up like that."

On keys to the win ...
"It's positive we came out with a lot of energy. We knew it was a big game, we knew we needed to win and we came out playing like that. The downs, we let them come back, but another positive is that we held them off."

On key to Bucks pulling away from Knicks, despite Knicks keeping it close when Bucks led in almost every major statistical category ...
"I just think we came out with a lot of energy. We were hitting our shots early, on defense we were locked in. We just had a great first quarter that let us get out to that big lead."

Forward Carlos Delfino

On keys to another solid shooting night ...
"We are sharing the ball. Most of the time, I'm shooting by myself. We move the ball and try to play together and when we do it, it's better for everyone."

On whether the energy level of the game and crowd helped feed the Bucks energy ...
"We know the fans were great, they push us all the time, especially when these kind of teams are fighting with us for the playoffs. We know it's our sixth man, so it's great."

• Carlos Delfino led the Bucks with a career-high 30 points and 11 rebounds. Amar'e Stoudemire finished with 25 points and 11 rebounds for the Knicks.
• Brandon Jennings was one assist shy of a triple-double (14 points, 11 rebounds, nine assists).
• The Bucks starters accounted for 98 of the team's 100 points. Milwaukee is now 5-1 when all five starters score in double figures.
• The Bucks opened the first 9:47 of the game on a 28-7 run led by Carlos Delfino's 10 points. During that span the Bucks held the Knicks to 3-20 (15.0 percent) from the field.
• The Bucks led after the first quarter 32-9. The nine points allowed marks a new season low for Bucks opponent scoring in a quarter (previous was 12 points in the 2nd quarter against New Jersey on Jan. 29). The Bucks shot a scorching 57.9 percent from the floor in the opening quarter while New York was limited to 16.0 percent.
• New York used a 32-15 second quarter to close the deficit to six points after falling behind by 23 points. John Salmons had 15 points to lead all scorers at halftime and Chauncey Billups paced the Knicks with 13 points at the break.
• The Bucks hung on to their lead after three quarters, 75-72. John Salmons and Carlos Delfino led the Bucks with 18 points apiece and Luc Richard Mbah a Moute scored 17.
• The starting lineup consisting of Brandon Jennings, John Salmons, Carlos Delfino, Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, and Andrew Bogut improves to 6-5.
• Today's game was the third of four meetings between the Bucks and Knicks. The two teams will play each other again for the final time this year this Friday in New York.
• Luc Richard Mbah a Moute tied a season high with 19 points today. He also set career highs in free throw makes and attempts today (13-13 FT). He tied Corey Maggette with the most free throws made by a Bucks player this year. The three blocks for Mbah a Moute ties a season high.
• New York tied a season-low in turnovers with six. This is the fourth time they have recorded six turnovers.
• When Carlos Delfino makes three or more 3-pointers Milwaukee is now 8-3. Delfino recorded his first double-double of the season today. It is also the first time Delfino has snatched 10 or more rebounds in a game this year.
• Chauncey Billups fouled out for the first time this season. Billups finished the game with 21 points and four assists.
• Andrew Bogut's 12 rebounds is the 32nd time this season the center has grabbed 10 or more rebounds in a game. He has led the Bucks in rebounding in 38 games now. The 13 points to go along with those boards gives Bogut his 21st double-double of the year.
• With the victory today the Bucks have won their first Sunday game of the season. They are now 1-2 when playing on Sundays and will not have another Sunday game this season.

DOUBLE THE FUN - Over the last two games Milwaukee's backcourt duo of Brandon Jennings (19.5 points, 9.0 assists and 3.5 rebounds) and John Salmons (23.5 points, 6.0 assists and 6.0 rebounds) have combined to average 43.0 points, 15.0 assists and 9.5 rebounds. Those numbers account for 43.2 percent of the Bucks points, 60.0 percent of the assists and 28.4 percent of the rebounds. In those two, Salmons has shot 60.0 percent from the floor (21-35) and 57.1 percent from three (4-7) while Jennings has knocked down 44.1 percent from the field (15-34) and is a perfect 7-7 from the free throw line.

MOUT-ILITY PLAYER - Bucks forward Luc Richard Mbah a Moute has done a little of everything for the Bucks in his last nine tilts. Mbah a Moute has averaged 10.0 points, 6.1 rebounds, 2.2 steals and 1.4 assists in those nine (Feb. 26, Mar. 6-18). Those numbers are all beyond his season averages of 6.1 points, 5.4 boards, 0.9 steal and 0.9 assist. The third-year pro has done all of that while shooting 52.9 percent from the field (37-70) and attempting a team-high 24 free throws. Five of his 16 double-figure scoring games this year have been in this stretch.

MAGIC NUMBERS - John Salmons recorded 25 points, seven assists and five rebounds on Friday, the seventh time he has tallied at least 15 points, five rebounds and five assists on the year (tied with Brandon Jennings for the most on the team). It was the 18th time a Bucks player accomplished the feat and the team is now 13-4 when a Bucks player tallies at least 15 points, five rebounds and five assists (two players accomplished it in the same game once). John Salmons has topped five assists 18 times this season and the Bucks are 12-6 in those 18 games.

DEL-3-NO STRIKES AGAIN - Carlos Delfino, aka Del-3-no struck again on Wednesday night, making a career-high eight 3-pointers which tie him for third in franchise history and tie him for the fourth-highest in the NBA this year with four other players (three players have made nine 3-pointers). Delfino is second on the team with 73 3-pointers this year and it was his 10th game this year of making three or more 3-pointers, the Bucks are 7-3 in those games.

NEARING NUMBERS - On Friday Carlos Delfino connected on the 400th 3-pointer of his career and now stands at 402. Delfino has made 207 of those threes in a Bucks uniform and is 25 away from passing Toni Kukoc and Lee Mayberry (231) for 10th place in franchise history - Brandon Jennings (223 3- pointers) is also chasing that spot and is just nine threes from reaching 10th place. Andrew Bogut (597) is three blocks away from joining Alton Lister (804) and Harvey Catchings (710) as the only Bucks with 600-plus blocks in franchise history. Chris Douglas-Roberts is (195) five assists away from 200. Delfino (297) needs three steals for 300 while John Salmons is (597) three steals from 600 and Keyon Dooling (443) is seven steals away from 450.

• The Bucks are 1-1 on a four-game homestand that runs through Wednesday, March 23. In this stretch the team plays five of six tilts at home before ending the season with seven of 10 games on the road.
  
  
• Brandon Jennings is averaging a team-high 16.7 points in March to go along with 4.6 assists, 3.4 rebounds and 1.6 steals. He has tallied 20-plus points in four of the team's nine games. On Friday he tied his seasonbest of 10 assists (four times) on his way to his fifth double-double of the season and seventh of his career
  
  
• Milwaukee is averaging 9.9 steals over their last 10 games. Carlos Delfino is leading the way with 2.3 steals per game, including a career-best five steals against Phoenix on March 4. Luc Richard Mbah a Moute is averaging 2.0 steals during that stretch (appearing in eight of the games). On the season, the Bucks are 11th in the league with 7.5 steals.
  
  
• The Bucks are in the final stretch of a busy March that has 16 games scheduled (10 at home). The last time they had more then 16 games in a month was January 2009 (18). They're currently 5-5 with six games remaining (three at home and three on the road).
  
  
• Andrew Bogut's four blocks on Friday gave him 18 games this season with four or more blocks - the most in the league and tying his career-best set last year. The Bucks are 10-8 in those contests.
  
  
• Carlos Delfino's 2.0 3-pointers per game would tie him for sixth in the NBA if he had enough games to qualify.
  
  
• On Friday the Bucks had all of their starters reach double-figures for the fifth time this season (second time against New Jersey). Milwaukee is now 4-1 when the starters all reach double-figures.