New York Rallies, Falls in Milwaukee

By | 2016-10-28T19:35:03-08:00 November 19th, 2014|News|Comments Off on New York Rallies, Falls in Milwaukee

If there’s one thing Derek Fisher and the New York Knicks can hang their hat on early in the 2014-15 season, it’s their resiliency. Under Coach Fisher, the Knicks have shown they will not give up, no matter the odds they face.

They proved it again on Tuesday night in Milwaukee.

Coming off a win on Sunday night in which Derek’s squad leaned on a monstrous second-quarter advantage to defeat the Denver Nuggets, the script was flipped on the Knicks on Tuesday. The Bucks used a 36-19 second quarter and led by as many as 27. But unlike Denver, New York stormed back and nearly stole a late victory, cutting the deficit to two in the waning seconds, only to fall just short in a 117-113 defeat.

Though his team feel to 3-9 with the loss, Derek departed Milwaukee happy with the character his players showed in fighting back, but he lamented that they fell behind in the first place.

“It takes some mental toughness to fight back into a game after you’ve gotten down so much,” Derek said. “On the first night of a back-to-back, it would be easy to start to think about the next game, but the guys fought back and we had a chance but it’s tough to fall behind that much on the road.”

New York Knicks v Milwaukee Bucks

The New York offense came ready for the challenge of facing the league’s top scoring defense.

Entering play on Tuesday, the Bucks had allowed just 92.6 points per game, the best mark in the league. But the Knicks splashed 30 points in the first 12 minutes off 60 percent shooting, ensuring they would lay waste to that average by the endd of the night.

However, as Fish explained after the game, that strong offensive start led to a mental lapse defensively.

“I thought our offense was coming easy, and I think that put us into a mindset that we didn’t have to get stops every time down,” Coach Fisher said. “I think you saw in the second half, once we got down by 20 points or more, then we had to get a stop. Then the defensive intensity and the sense of urgency that you have to play the game with at all time seemed to be more apparent.”

Carmelo Anthony once again had a big night, tallying 26 points for his fifth straight game over 25. He added five assists, and six boards, and shot 10-of-17 from the field, marking his fourth straight shooting performance above 58 percent.

One of the NBA’s most outstanding players, it was only a matter of time before Melo settled into Fish’s triangle offense and learned not only where his shots would come from, but also how he could create for his teammates. That showed in a big way in the first quarter, when he had 10 points and three dimes.

After falling behind out of the gate, the Knicks pulled out some flashiness to tie the game in its early stages. Melo received the ball near the free throw line, and the magical eyes in the back of his head allowed him to immediately flick the ball backwards to a charging Iman Shumpert for an easy deuce.

New York Knicks v Milwaukee Bucks

In his first game coming off a hip contusion, Shumpert put up arguably his best numbers of the year, scoring 21 points, eight rebounds and eight assists, incredibly close to the ever-elusive triple double.

The Knicks had the final possession of the first, and put the ball in Anthony’s hands. Down 30-28, Shane Larkin dished the ball to Melo, who was draped with two defenders forming a conga line on his back. Unfazed with the clock ticking under one second, Melo put the ball up and saw it swish louder than the silent Wisconsin crowd as they watched the teams head back to their benches tied at 30-30.

After playing to a draw with the Bucks in the first, poor defense and rebounding plagued the Knicks in the second, and granted them a 66-49 halftime deficit.

The Bucks shot 65.2 percent in the second frame and outrebounded the Knicks 15-4 in the second. The losing battle on the glass was a difference-maker throughout the evening as the Bucks, despite being without starting big man Larry Sanders, dominated New York on the boards on the way to a 48-22 advantage in that department. Filling in for Sanders as a starter, center Zaza Pachulia grabbed 13 of those 48 rebounds, nearly as many as any two Knicks had combined.

By controlling the ball, the Bucks were also able to control the pace of the game and spread the rock around to all of their playmakers. Seven Milwaukee players scored in double figures, including all five starters, and the Bucks also quality minutes out bench players like Ersan Ilyasova, who scored a team-high 20 points.

Coach Fish talked about the rebounding issues that his team faced throughout the night.

“I think (the Bucks) missed 35 shots, and they got 17 offensive rebounds. So you know they got half of their shots back,” Fish said. “Some of that is due to our rotations, playing a smaller lineup (and) more guys who are spreading the floor. Once you get back into rotation, it’s hard to rebound.”

New York Knicks v Milwaukee Bucks

One game after scoring a season-high 28 points, J.R. Smith struggled and managed just nine points, three assists and two steals. The Knicks’ sharpshooter wasn’t happy with the result, or the effort of his team, and afterward gave a glimpse into the scene in the team’s locker room at halftime.

“Coach challenged us at halftime to go out and play hard and see what happens,” Smith said. “For some reason it’s something we need to be reminded of, to play hard, which is really embarrassing.”

However, the team responded with gusto to Fish’s halftime message and increased their defensive intensity, which led to much easier opportunities on the offensive end.

“It wasn’t until the third quarter really started to get out of hand that we started to put the right mindset into playing with a sense of urgency,” Derek said after the game.

New York’s Tim Hardaway Jr. outdid Milwaukee’s Ilyasova off the bench with a stunning 24-point game, which marked his best showing of the season. Hardaway was a big driving force in the third, when he tallied a team-high 11 points. Shumpert added eight in the frame, and Amar’e Stoudemire and Pablo Prigioni combined for 11 off the bench as well to cut the Bucks lead to 15 after three and keep the Knicks in the game.

New York Knicks v Milwaukee Bucks

In the fourth, the Knicks continued to push their way back into the game, as they have numerous times this season.

As he is wont to do, Anthony fueled the comeback with 13 points off 6-of-8 shooting, while Stoudemire and Hardaway combined for another 13. As New York continued to chip away, a crucial baseline jumper by Anthony brought the score to 108-100, which breathed new life into the New York squad.

Hardaway Jr. added more fuel to the fire when he caught a sideline-to-sideline pass. Though he stood alone, ready to shoot a three, Hardaway exercised patience and rather than take the shot, he allowed a Bucks defender to fly by him on a whiffed block attempt, which set the blooming star up for a gutsy layup, that brought the Knicks deficit to six.

Shumpert followed the big time layup with a monster reverse jam after running under the hoop, bringing the deficit to four and capping a much-needed 10-0 run with just 1:51 to go.

The drama reached its peak when the Knicks found themselves down 115-111 with 11 seconds left. Melo had the ball once again, and plowed through the paint for a two-handed slam, which brought the game within one basket. J.R. Smith attempted to intercept the Milwaukee inbound with six seconds remaining, but his deflection caused the ball to go out of bounds. The Bucks eventually completed their inbound, and Jerryd Bayless was fouled and iced the game with two made free throws.

Although offense was what almost saved the day for his crew, Fish stressed once again that defense is the most important part of pulling off victories in close games.

He liked the sense of urgency late in the game, but revealed that he wants to see that for more than just the final quarter.

“It’s not about our guys not wanting to or not trying, it’s just about figuring out how to get it done,” Fish says. “It’s individually and collectively finding ways to bring the right mindset, the right energy, the right focus, so we have to continue to build up our ability to do so.”

NEXT UP

Fish and the New York Knicks (3-9) will waste no time after the loss, as they head up to Minnesota to take on the Timberwolves (2-7) Wednesday night for the tail end of their road back-to-back.

Going into Tuesday, Fish had hoped his team could take a step forward after breaking its losing streak. But after another learning experience, he hopes they can close the deal the next time a similar opportunity presents itself.

“Coming off a win Sunday afternoon, this was a great opportunity for us to continue to build on that,” Fish said. “We’ll learn a lot from tonight, but we didn’t take another step forward. I think we kind of just stayed the same. So we have to find a way to take advantage of opportunities to get better every time we’re out there.”

The Timberwolves have struggled mightily this season, as they are working through a rebuilding phase, and feature a lot of young talent on the squad.

Tipoff from the Target Center is scheduled for 8 p.m. ET Wednesday night and the game can be seen on MSG.

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