Most teams welcoming a new coach and a seven-time All-Star likely would experience a few growing pains, and the Milwaukee Bucks are proving to be no exception.
After splitting their first four games, the Bucks’ adjustment period continues when they face the visiting New York Knicks on Friday in their first game of the NBA’s inaugural in-season tournament.
Milwaukee coach Adrian Griffin is looking for an improved defensive effort after his team lost 130-111 to the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday.
Malik Beasley scored 20 points to lead the Bucks, who acquired star guard Damian Lillard from the Portland Trail Blazers in late September. After scoring 39 points in an opening-night win, Lilliard has averaged 15.3 in his past three games.
The Bucks also are in a transition period as Griffin looks to integrate Lillard into a starting rotation that includes Khris Middleton, Brook Lopez and Giannis Antetokounmpo. Everyone involved is eager to start becoming more consistent on both ends of the floor.
“We have to get better,” Antetokounmpo said. “We have to play together. We have to be more clear on what we try to get from offense. We have to be more clear in what we’re trying to accomplish defensively and who we are going to let attack us, because you’ve got to live with something.
“You cannot stop everything. We gotta keep figuring out solutions. Right now, we’re not there yet. Hopefully we can get better in the future. But if we just stay with the mindset that we are going to get better in the future, we will not. We have to every day come to the court and figure out ways to get better. I believe that as a team we will get better, hopefully.”
New York is also looking for quick solutions after losing three of its first five games. Star forward Julius Randle’s early-season shooting woes continued in a 95-89 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday.
Randle scored six points as he shot 3-of-15 from the field and missed all six attempts from 3-point range. The two-time All-Star is shooting 27.6 percent from the field and 25.8 percent from beyond the arc through five games.
“Everything is pretty packed in. I’m working really hard for everything,” Randle said. “So we just gotta keep trying to find a way to make it easy for each other, open the floor up a little bit, so we’re able to get downhill, just get into a rhythm a little bit better.”
New York played Wednesday’s contest without starting wing RJ Barrett, who is listed as day-to-day with a sore left knee.
With Barrett sidelined against Cleveland, the Knicks were held to 34.8 percent shooting from the field while going 5-of-30 (16.7 percent) from 3-point range.
While most of the early focus has been on Randle’s struggles, New York guard Immanuel Quickley pointed to the bigger picture.
“We made it to the second round of the playoffs. Everybody has been watching us for a while now,” Quickley said. “(They’re) just seeing how (they) can play us differently, and we gotta adjust. We gotta find ways to get everybody shots – not just Julius. We gotta find a way to get everybody easy shots so that we can flourish.”
New York has lost its past six meetings against Milwaukee, including all three last season.
–Field Level Media
