Knicks-Bucks Preview

By KATE HEDLIN
Posted Apr 11 2012 2:48AM

With the season winding down, the New York Knicks and Milwaukee Bucks both recognize the importance of their final meeting as they fight for the last playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

Trying to hold off the Bucks, the Knicks will look to prevent them from taking the season series when the teams meet Wednesday night in Milwaukee.

One game separates Milwaukee (28-29) from eighth-place New York (29-28) in the East. Neither team helped its cause its last time out, with the Bucks falling 109-89 to Oklahoma City on Monday and the Knicks losing 98-86 at Chicago on Tuesday.

While New York defeated Milwaukee 89-80 in the most recent meeting March 26, the Bucks won the first two and could capture the season series and the head-to-head tiebreaker with a victory Wednesday.

"It's a must win," New York's Carmelo Anthony said. "It's probably one of the biggest games of the season for us. We've got to be ready."

Milwaukee's loss to the Thunder on Monday snapped a four-game winning streak. The Bucks were outscored 35-18 in the first quarter and couldn't recover, trailing by as many as 28 points.

"For sure that's not going to happen Wednesday," Brandon Jennings said of the poor start.

Bucks coach Scott Skiles emphasized the importance of coming out quickly and playing with high energy Wednesday.

"Win or lose, are we playing like we understand the magnitude of the moment, and the type of energy we need to come out and compete?" Skiles said.

The Bucks are looking for a better defensive game than they had against the Thunder - the first opponent to score 100 points against them in seven games - particularly since points could be at a premium against New York's improved defense.

Milwaukee averaged 109.5 points in the first two meetings with the Knicks, with Jennings totaling 61 in those victories. He was held to 15 on 6-of-22 shooting in last month's loss, part of New York's 11-4 stretch under interim coach Mike Woodson.

The Knicks have held opponents to an average of 89.2 points in those games after yielding 96.5 before that. Monta Ellis said the Bucks plan to respond by pushing the pace.

"Really get out and run, don't let their defense set," Ellis said.

The Knicks couldn't defeat the Bulls for a second straight game after beating them 100-99 in overtime at home Sunday. In Chicago on Tuesday, they were outrebounded 51-33, giving up 18 offensive boards.

Anthony, who had 43 points in Sunday's victory, finished with 29 and Tyson Chandler added 10 points and 15 rebounds.

The Knicks have been effective at building early leads thanks to their defense lately, giving up an average of 42.4 points on 40.4 percent shooting in the first half under Woodson. The Bulls, however, turned the tables by holding New York to 10 points in the second quarter Tuesday.

Still playing without Jeremy Lin and Amare Stoudemire, the Knicks will try to urgently address their road woes. They've lost four of five and 10 of their last 13 on the road, also dropping four in a row in Milwaukee.

"We've got to leave it all on the floor," Chandler said.

Smith hits late 3, Knicks beat Bucks 111-107

By CHRIS JENKINS
Posted Apr 12 2012 1:55AM

MILWAUKEE (AP) With the New York Knicks locked in a tight fight for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, J.R. Smith hit the kind of shot that could end up making the difference between playing on and going home.

Smith hit a 3-pointer for the lead with 1:04 left, and the Knicks held on to beat the Milwaukee Bucks 111-107 on Wednesday in a game that could turn out to be critical to both teams' playoff hopes.

"If you are going to shoot the ball, make it - and he did," Carmelo Anthony said. "He shot with confidence, he made it and put us up one and we were gone from there."

Anthony had 32 points and 10 rebounds, while Tyson Chandler added 19 points and 11 rebounds for the Knicks, who took a two-game lead on Milwaukee for the No. 8 seed in the East. Smith had 14 points off the bench.

"This is a game we had to have," Knicks coach Mike Woodson said.

Anthony came away from the game banged up - he said he hurt his right wrist in the first half and fingers on his left hand in the second half - but said he'll be fine as the Knicks continue their push for the playoffs.

"This is probably the biggest win we have had so far this season for how important it was," Anthony said. "On the road, the way we won, we gutted it out. The way we responded being down eight coming down the stretch, we buckled down on the defensive end."

Monta Ellis had 35 points and Brandon Jennings added 22 for the Bucks. Milwaukee still can rally to make the playoffs, but Bucks coach Scott Skiles acknowledged that the loss was a significant setback.

"Not good," Skiles said. "We expected to win the game. We didn't win the game. If I feel good about that, I should get another profession."

A win would have evened the Bucks with the Knicks in the standings and given them a head-to-head tiebreaker edge.

"Obviously, now, we need a little help," Skiles said. "We need to win, and we need a little help."

With the Bucks up by eight and the Knicks' chances appearing to fade, Anthony drew a technical foul when he slammed the ball on the floor in frustration with 8:53 left in the game.

"We had them," Jennings said. "We were right there. A couple shots didn't go our way."

Anthony said it was a reaction to hurting his fingers on the play.

"I'm fine, though," Anthony said. "I'm cool."

But Jennings missed the foul shot and the Knicks used a scoring spurt to tie it at 99 on a 3-pointer by Smith. New York then took a 101-99 lead on a pair of free throws by Smith with 3:16 left.

Chandler then picked up his fifth foul, and Ekpe Udoh hit one of two free throws to cut the lead to one.

Anthony then scored on a rebound of his own miss, and Udoh hit a jumper.

Udoh then came up with a block on Iman Shumpert, Mike Dunleavy Jr. rebounded a miss on the other end and kicked it out to Ellis, who hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key to give the Bucks a 105-103 lead with 1:45 left.

Anthony hit a turnaround jumper at the other end to tie the game.

Luc Richard Mbah a Moute scored on a putback on the other end for Milwaukee, but Smith hit an open 3-pointer with 1:04 left to give the Knicks a 108-107 lead.

"Definitely the biggest shot I have made being here so far, especially being on the road and in this atmosphere," Smith said. "Battling for that eighth spot, it was big for us."

After a miss by Dunleavy, Steve Novak - a former Marquette University standout who knows the Bradley Center rims well - hit a pair of free throws for a 110-107 Knicks lead with 19.4 left.

Jennings missed a late 3-pointer that would have tied the game.

The Knicks took advantage of woeful interior defense by the Bucks early on, hitting 11 of their first 12 shots - a lot of them coming on layups. Of the Knicks' first 30 points of the game, 26 of them came in the paint.

New York shot 77.3 percent from the field in the first quarter and led 36-27 going into the second, but the Bucks came back and went into halftime tied at 62.

Jennings said the comeback might have sapped the Bucks' energy.

"It kind of takes a lot out of you," Jennings said. "I think that's where it kind of hit us, in the fourth quarter or the last five minutes. We missed some shots we usually make."

NOTES: It was a short night for Milwaukee center Drew Gooden, who is nursing a sore back and played only 5:02. ... Chandler was 6-for-6 from the field. ... Milwaukee had seven blocked shots, including three each by Udoh and Larry Sanders.

Notebook: Knicks 111, Bucks 107

Posted Thursday April 12, 2012 12:33AM

By Rick Braun, for NBA.com

THE FACTS: J.R. Smith swished a go-ahead 3-pointer with 1:04 left, and Carmelo Anthony scored 32 points and grabbed 10 rebounds as the New York Knicks rallied for a 111-107 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks Wednesday night at the Bradley Center, strongly boosting their playoff hopes.

Smith scored eight of his 14 points in the fourth quarter as the Knicks took a two-game lead over Milwaukee for the eighth and final playoff spot with eight games to play.

Monta Ellis scored 35 points and had 10 assists for the Bucks, Brandon Jennings added 22 and Mike Dunleavy had 19. But the Bucks wilted down the stretch after leading, 94-86, with 9:23 left.

With the Knicks trailing, 107-105, Smith and Anthony played a pick-and-roll off the left wing. When Ellis stepped beneath the pick, Smith let fly with the 3-pointer that gave the Knicks the lead for good.

QUOTABLE: "It was just a regular shot. They went under the screen and pretty much doubled 'Melo' and I was wide open. Those are the shots that we need myself and my teammates to make, and fortunately it went in."
-- Smith on his go-ahead 3-pointer.

THE STAT: After Anthony opened the night with a jump shot, the Knicks' next 14 field goals came on either layups or dunks as the Milwaukee defense was non-existent. After making 17 first-quarter field goals, the Knicks needed 27 and 1/2 minutes to get their next 17 field goals.

TURNING POINT: The Bucks were ahead, 94-86, with 8:53 left when a frustrated Anthony was hit with a technical foul. But Jennings missed the free throw, and a dunk by Tyson Chandler and a 3-point play by Anthony started a 10-2 run that tied it at 96. Steve Novak, who grew up in nearby Brown Deer and played at Marquette, capped the run with a 3-pointer, and the Knicks outplayed the Bucks down the stretch.

QUOTABLE II: "This was probably the biggest win that we've had thus far in the season just for how important it was, on the road, the way we gutted it out, the way we responded being down eight down the stretch and the way we buckled down on the defensive end and won this game."
-- Anthony

HOT: Ellis made 14 of 25 shots, but his percentage paled to Chandler's 6-for-6 night. Chandler leads the league in field goal percentage at 67.8 percent (217 for 320).

NOT: Dunleavy was an uncharacteristic 5 for 15, including 0 for 6 in the fourth quarter. He entered the game shooting 48.7 percent.

GOOD MOVE: Bucks coach Scott Skiles inserted second-year man Larry Sanders into the game at the start of the second quarter after the Knicks made 17 of 22 first-quarter shots, including 14 layups or dunks. Sanders started defending the bucket and had two of his three blocks in the second quarter as the Bucks pulled to a 62-62 tie at the half after trailing by as many as 14 in the first quarter.

BAD MOVE: When Ellis went beneath Anthony's pick, Smith was wide open for his go-ahead 3-pointer.

ROOKIE WATCH: Guard Iman Shumpert played a game-high 42 minutes and had 16 points, six rebounds, five assists and three steals.

NOTABLE: Point guard Baron Davis played just 19 minutes and said it was because of the hard fall he took a night earlier in the loss at Chicago. ... Drew Gooden started at center for the Bucks but only played the first 5:02 and took a seat for the night. He'd missed two games last week with a bad back. ... Chandler finished with a double-double of 19 points and 11 rebounds. ... The Bucks now trail the Knicks by two games and the 76ers by three games as they're on the outside looking in at the playoff picture. Because they and the Knicks split the season series, 2-2, the next tiebreaker will be conference records. The Knicks are 23-18 and the Bucks are 21-19 in conference play. ...

UP NEXT: For the Knicks, Friday vs. Washington, Sunday vs. Miami, Tuesday vs. Boston. For the Bucks, Friday @ Detroit, Saturday vs. Indiana, Wednesday @ Washington.

• Knicks: Lin, Stoudemire
• Bucks: Brown, Leuer

• Knicks: Anthony
• Bucks: --

• Lead Changes: 18
• Times Tied: 16

• Arena: Bradley Center, Milwaukee, WI
• Officials: #14 Ed Malloy, #31 Scott Wall, #30 John Goble
• Attendance: 15534
• Duration: 2:30