NBA 2018-19, Milwaukee Bucks vs New York Knicks: 3 talking points as Giannis Antetokounmpo leads his team to victory

The Milwaukee Bucks emerged with an easy victory in their Christmas day match-up against the New York Knicks, with a score line of 109-95. They looked dominant right from the start, and never showed signs of stopping.

With the victory over the Knicks, the Bucks are now comfortable at the 2nd spot in their conference with a record of 23-10, while the Knicks have a record of 9-26 and they’re at the 14th position in their conference.

For the Bucks, their MVP front-runner Giannis Antetokounmpo came up with big numbers of 30 points and 14 reboundss. He dominated from inside the paint and the Knicks clearly didn’t have any answer to him.

The Knicks badly needed this victory as they are now on a 6-game losing skid and their playoff hopes seem all but over. As for the Bucks, they’re on a roll.

With all that said, let’s look at the top 3 takeaways from the match:

#3. The Dominance of Giannis Antetokounmpo continues

Giannis Antetokounmpo against the New York Knicks

The Bucks have been one of the best teams in the league and the biggest reason for that has been the presence of one of the best players in the league - the Greek Freak, Giannis Antetokounmpo.

Antetokounmpo is already being compared to the likes of legends like Shaquille O’ Neal in terms of dominance and his unstoppable nature when he gets inside the paint. He has been causing the opposing defenses grave problems as there is literally no one in the league that can stop him right now.

It’s not just his offense, but also his impressive defense that causes terrors in the opposition’s mind. He has been averaging 26.2 pts, 12.8 rebs, 6 asts, 1.4 blocks, 1.2 stls on 58.3%fg.

If he keeps playing like this, Antetokounmpo may well become the new MVP of the league.

#2. The 3-point shooting of both the teams

Both the teams were mediocre from the 3-point line. For the New York Knicks this is not a big deal, because they’re not going to the playoffs anyway, so no worries. But for the Bucks this could be a cause for concern if they are serious about their championship aspirations.

Giannis Antetokounmpo will need shooters who he can rely on when teams will double team him come the playoffs. That's particularly so against teams like Boston and Toronto who have elite defenses and can easily choke the Bucks if they don’t figure out this problem of theirs.

Throughout the season the Bucks have been pretty mediocre from the 3-point line, and they are ranked 17th in the league for 3-point efficiency. They need to find the right balance and right mixture of players who would blend well within their system and be ready for the playoffs.

#1. Great rebounding performance from both the teams

Rebounding is one of the major stats in the NBA; the team that dominates the boards almost always wins. And this match was a rebounding exhibition, as both the teams were dominant on the boards and put on an impressive rebounding showcase.

It was no surprise seeing the Bucks have a good rebounding night as they’re the rebounding leaders league-wise, but for the Knicks to put in such great efforts to grab the boards is fairly surprising and also good for the game of basketball.

The Bucks have been gathering 49.9 rebounds per contest, which is spectacular and one of the biggest reasons for their dominance so far. They have multiple players who throw their efforts and bodies to grab rebounds, be it offensive or defensive.

In their next match the Milwaukee Bucks will face the New York Knicks again, but this time in their own backyard. They will hope to repeat this kind of performance and get another win over the struggling Knicks.

Edited by Musab Abid