Knicks-Bucks Preview

By TAYLOR BECHTOLD
Posted Nov 28 2012 1:38AM

The Milwaukee Bucks' reserves are playing with quite a bit of confidence.

That doesn't come at a good time for the New York Knicks, who are looking to snap a three-game losing streak on the road.

The Bucks try to keep things rolling on the heels of their huge comeback victory as the Knicks visit Wednesday night in a battle of first-place teams.

After coach Scott Skiles cleared his bench late in the third quarter on Monday, his reserves led Milwaukee (7-5) back from a 27-point deficit in a 93-92 win at Chicago.

Ersan Ilyasova came off the bench for the first time in 2012-13, scoring 12 of his season-high 18 points in the fourth quarter as the Bucks outscored the Bulls 30-12 in the final 12 minutes.

Milwaukee's reserves, which helped the team snapped a three-game skid, outscored the Bulls' bench 56-10. The unit has been a strength for the Central Division-leading Bucks, who are first in the NBA in field goal percentage (48.0) and rank second in scoring (42.1) off the bench.

"We got different guys in the game," Skiles said. "They played very well together, played with a lot of energy, played some good defense."

Despite spraining his left ankle in the team's loss to Chicago on Saturday night, Brandon Jennings started and scored just six points on 2 of 9 shooting.

Jennings leads the league at 3.2 steals per game, but failed to record a steal for the first time in 2012-13.

Monta Ellis, Milwaukee's leading scorer at 19.1 per game, has averaged 12.0 over his last three games after finishing with 10 against the Bulls.

The Bucks, who rank near the bottom on the league in 3-point shooting (29.7 percent), won despite their continued struggles from beyond the arc. After making 3 of 15 on Monday, they're 13 for 77 (16.9) over their last four games.

Milwaukee will likely need a better effort from its starters against a New York team that's been tough on opposing reserves. The Knicks rank near the top of the Eastern Conference in defensive bench scoring (31.2) and shooting percentage (40.1).

New York (9-4) will try to avoid their fourth straight road defeat after falling 96-89 to the rival Nets on Monday night in a tough atmosphere at the new Barclays Center in Brooklyn. The defeat dropped the Knicks into a first-place tie with the Nets atop the Atlantic.

Carmelo Anthony, second in the league at 26.3 points per game, had 35 and 13 rebounds against the Nets. He's averaging 33.7 points his last three games, having made 14 3-pointers and shooting 52.2 percent overall.

Tyson Chandler, the NBA leader with a 70.4 field-goal percentage, finished with 28 points on 12-of-13 shooting and 10 boards. The 7-foot-1 center has made 28 of 32 (87.5 percent) from the field over his last five contests.

Jason Kidd will miss his second straight game due to back spasms. Raymond Felton - second on the team in scoring at 15.1 points per game while averaging a team-best 7.1 assists - will have to bounce back after a 3-for-19 performance.

"I'm upset at myself. I had a bad shooting night," Felton said. "I'm probably just as mad as any fan, any player, anybody you could think about.'

The Knicks lead the league in 3-pointers (11.7) and rank third in scoring (102.3), but had just six threes and 89 points while shooting 38.8 percent on Monday.

While New York looks for its third straight win against the Bucks, it has dropped four of five at Milwaukee.

Anthony scores 29, Knicks win in Milwaukee

Posted Nov 29 2012 12:00AM

MILWAUKEE (AP) Carmelo Anthony may be playing better than ever.

Anthony scored 29 points to lead the New York Knicks to a 102-88 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday night.

Anthony, who sat out the fourth quarter, was 9 of 18 from the floor and also grabbed eight rebounds in 30 minutes. The second-leading scorer in the NBA has scored at least 29 points in his last four games, including 35 points and 13 rebounds in a 96-89 overtime loss at Brooklyn on Monday.

"He's playing at an all-time high, I think," Knicks coach Mike Woodson said. "And it's a beautiful thing to watch.

"He's just been solid, and it's kind of nice to see. He's put a lot of time in this summer with the Olympics, and it carried over to the summer program when we got back. He came to vet camp in great shape, and it's been a nice carry-over to the season."

Steve Novak added a season-best 19 points in a career-high, 39-plus minutes, and Tyson Chandler chipped in with 17 points and eight rebounds for the Knicks, who snapped a three-game road losing streak.

"Coach gave me good minutes; great opportunity to be out there," said Novak, who grew up in the area and also played at Marquette University. "I was feeling good and Coach had confidence in me. There's no place like playing at home. That's just true. Playing at the Garden is unbelievable, and being at home. There's nothing like those two places.

"I do know these rims well. I've shot a few shots on these."

Jason Kidd missed his second game in a row for New York with lower back spasms. But he wasn't needed, as New York starters Chandler and Kurt Thomas also sat out the fourth.

No Milwaukee starters played the final period. Beno Udrih scored a season-high 18 points, as did Brandon Jennings.

"The things we wanted to do, that we talked about before the game like making Carmelo have an inefficient game and controlling their 3-point shots, neither one of those happened," Milwaukee coach Scott Skiles said.

The Bucks, who have lost four of their last five games, also got 17 points and seven assists from Monta Ellis.

"We just didn't seem as prepared as we needed to be," Skiles added. "We were a little bit loose with the ball. Again, you have to give their team -they'll play a lot of smalls out there with one big guy. They put a lot of pressure on you. You have to be sharp and we weren't."

Milwaukee overcame a 27-point, second-half deficit to beat Chicago on Monday, but there was no rally this time after giving up the first 10 points of the second half to fall behind 68-48 on Anthony's short jump shot with 9:38 to play.

"I was just taking what they was giving," Anthony said. "If they put a bigger guy on me, I'd try to get it to the hole. If they put (someone smaller) on me, I was trying to get down in the paint, and stay aggressive. Tonight was one of those nights I made shots and tried to make the game easier for myself."

Milwaukee responded by scoring the next seven points, including a layup by Larry Sanders to trim the margin to 68-55 with 7:32.

The closest the Bucks would get was 98-86 with 2 minutes left in the game on a basket by Udrih.

"Big leads are not big in this league," Woodson said. "You've just got to play for 48 minutes and you get it done."

The last time Milwaukee led was 31-30 on a layup by Udrih with 8:25 remaining in the second quarter. New York had a 45-44 edge before using a 9-0 run to take control. It started with a 3-pointer by Anthony.

Three straight turnovers by Milwaukee all led to layups, including one by Raymond Felton for New York's biggest lead of the first half, 54-44, with 55 seconds left.

Notes: New York improved to 5-4 on the road. The Knicks are 5-0 at home. ... Novak's previous career high for minutes was 38, set at Portland on Feb. 22, 2009. ... John Henson made his second start for Milwaukee. The rookie also did Monday for the first time. Skiles used his third different starting lineup in three games. He used the same starting five for the first 10 games. .. Kurt Thomas also made his second start for New York. He did not play in three of the previous five games. ... Three of the next four Bucks' games are on the road.

Notebook: Knicks 102, Bucks 88

Rick Braun, For NBA.com
Posted Wed Nov 28, 2012 11:52 PM - Updated Wed Nov 28, 2012 11:52 PM

THE FACTS: Carmelo Anthony scored 29 points and didn't even have to play in the fourth quarter as the New York Knicks rolled to a 102-88 victory against the Milwaukee Bucks Wednesday night at the BMO Harris Bradley Center.

Anthony was 9-for-18 from the floor and 8-for-9 on free throws, as he had his way with every defender the Bucks threw at him. Steve Novak added 19 points for the Knicks (10-4) while playing in his home college arena from his days at Marquette University.

For the second straight game, the Milwaukee starters put on a flat performance. This time the bench couldn't bail them out. The Bucks (7-6) lost for the fourth time in five games and fell to 3-4 at home.

QUOTABLE: "I do know these rims well. I've shot a few shots on these."

-- Steve Novak, who went 7-for-10 including 5-for-7 on 3-pointers in his home college arena

THE STAT: The Knicks didn't outshoot the Bucks by much, only had a 38-36 edge on the boards, had fewer assists, and didn't force many more turnovers than they committed. But New York did make 11 of 21 3-pointers to just 5 of 13 for Milwaukee. That 18-point difference was more than the margin of victory.

TURNING POINT: Anthony made a 3-pointer with 2:29 left in the half to start a 9-0 run that pushed a 45-44 lead up to 54-44. It was 58-48 at the half, and the Knicks scored the first 10 points of the third quarter to turn the game into a rout.

QUOTABLE II: "I was just taking what they were giving me. If they put a bigger guy on me with [Larry] Sanders, I was just trying to get to the hole. When they put Marquis Daniels on me, I was just trying to get into the paint and be aggressive. Tonight was one of those nights I made shots and I tried to make the game easier for myself."

-- Carmelo Anthony

HOT: Knicks center Tyson Chandler went 4-for-4 from the floor and 9-for-10 from the line. He's now 61-for-85 (71.8 percent) and leading the league again in field goal percentage.

NOT: The Bucks' starting front court of Tobias Harris, rookie John Henson and Samuel Dalembert went just 1-for-8 to combine for two points. Not surprisingly, Dalembert and Harris did not see any action in the second half.

INSIDE THE ARENA: Milwaukee Brewers legend and Hall-of-Famer Robin Yount was in courtside seats, as were Brewers general manager Doug Melvin and Green Bay Packers players Charles Woodson and James Jones. Yount, Woodson and Jones were shown on the video screen and drew bigger cheers than the Bucks.

GOOD MOVE: Knicks coach Mike Woodson gave season-high minutes to Novak and Pablo Prigioni, and the two combined to go 11-for-16, including 7-for-9 on 3-pointers.

ROOKIE WATCH: Bucks second-round pick Doron Lamb played a season-high 24 minutes and chipped in eight points, including the first two 3-pointers of his career. ... Henson entered the game with one assist but had three in the first 6:37 of the game.

NOTABLE: After rallying from 27 points down for their victory Monday in Chicago, the Bucks fell behind by as many as 22 in the third quarter. Bucks coach Scott Skiles started the fourth quarter with the same lineup he used in the fourth quarter Monday. This time there was no big rally. ... Knicks guard Jason Kidd missed his second straight game with back spasms. Kidd did not travel to Milwaukee.

UP NEXT: For the Knicks, Friday vs. Washington, Sunday vs. Phoenix, Wednesday @ Charlotte. For the Bucks, Friday @ Minnesota, Saturday vs. Boston, Monday @ New Orleans.

• Knicks: Shumpert, Stoudemire
• Bucks: Gooden, Mbah a Moute

• Knicks: --
• Bucks: --

• Lead Changes: 9
• Times Tied: 6

• Arena: BMO Harris Bradley Center, Milwaukee, WI
• Officials: #15 Bennett Salvatore, #18 Matt Boland, #28 Zach Zarba
• Attendance: 11439
• Duration: 2:03