A Very Merry Knicksmas: Jalen Brunson Drops 38 and the Knicks Finally Beat the Bucks

A Very Merry Knicksmas: Jalen Brunson Drops 38 and the Knicks Finally Beat the Bucks

Jaylen Brunson Cooks the Milwaukee Bucks on Christmas Day at 129 122 win for our New York Knicks was it the win of the Season we’ll talk about that and much more right now on locked on Knicks you are locked on Nicks your daily New York Knicks podcast part of

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Episode and be sure to do the same on your favorite audio podcast platform of choice but who’s talking to you I’m Gavin Shaw your favorite play byplay broadcasters favorite play byplay broadcaster coming to you after I was telling Alex before by first Christmas ever what a joy you guys uh for the most

Part out there I assume have it pretty good he’s Alex Wolf editorinchief of the Strickland where is Christmas for Nicks fans every day you can check out all their great work at The strick Doland on all forms of social media Alex I got a lot of good presents the best one of all

Though a 129 to 122 victory for the New York Knicks over the Milwaukee Bucks Jaylen Brunson a master class 38 points six assists four rebounds in 37 minutes 15 of 28 from the field only had to hit one three because he also added seven free throws just consistently torched

The Bucks whether it was Brook Lopez dropping back and pick and roll and inviting Brunson to re Jumpers in his eye whether it was the excellent rookie Andre Jackson Jr trying his best and unfortunately getting embarrassed over and over again by Jaylen or whether it was late in the game when Milwaukee was

Throwing two at him and it often didn’t matter and he he put this one away after the bucks made a spirited comeback in a game that the Knicks pretty much controlled wire to wire yeah I think the most impressive thing to me about brunson’s performance was that one of

Three from three which you’d be like why is that impressive he only made one of three from three but it’s more that he’s evolved Beyond needing seven eight threes in a game to get 30 plus points which is really dangerous territory for a six foot2 player like the fact that he

Is as good of a three-point shooter as he is and can still put 38 on you even when when that three-point shot isn’t a part of his game for the night is absolutely insane and the fact that he did this against the milwauke Bucks who

Boast the amount of size that they do on the inside the amount of help defense from janisan to DMO and and Brook Lopez just being a constant force on the inside is absolutely insane to me I mean his every little move that he did in this game to create space to create that

Little mid-range jumper it was just like it was like a work of art man I mean not to get too too you know Hy hyperbolic or whatever like it’s just watching him play is it it defies convention like seeing how he’s able to play the way

That he does at his size it’s like if you took I don’t know like Baron Davis maybe and how he used to play sort of but like made him shorter and you know made him way more crafty and less reliant on athleticism uh than Baron Davis was early in his

Career or something I I don’t even know what to what to like relate Jaylen Brunson to at this point because he just kind of is his own his own beast at this point but also six assists to no turnovers I thought that it was another huge part of what made this game so

Great for him was that the Bucks did try to key in more on him in the beginning of the third quarter and he just said okay well Isaiah hartenstein is a superstar now and just completely like abandon his own offensive needs to just say well if they’re going to throw all

This attention at me and they’re going to send Brook Lopez and all these other guys to to look at me when I’m coming in to to get inside I’m going to just abuse them and throw it to Isaiah hartstein every time for an easy dunk easy layup

An an one whatever it was just like a perfect performance in every aspect for Brunson in this one and to top it off no turnovers too I mean it’s just that again greatest Christmas gift you could ask for is this this performance from Jaylen Brunson yeah I I love that you

Brought up Stein because I think we’re seeing that he’s unlocking jaylen’s game in ways that you just can’t with Mitchell Robinson like the whole first quarter the Knicks kept trying all these different things to get in the ball in the move get in the ball in different

Spots like there was one play where it feels crazy to talk about a play where he didn’t score given how often he did score in this game and how incredible so many of those buckets were but um they had an inbound and Julius just inbounded to Isaiah hardenstein and Milwaukee was

Doing something called top locking where you essentially um guard a player as if the rim is is the three-point line maybe that’s not the best way to describe it but basically guarding them in such a way that that they’re not going to get the ball for a three-pointer right like

You’re you’re you’re playing with your back to the opposing basket and Brunson was just sort of like all right you’re gonna do that Randall tossed it into iHeart and then Brunson just cut off the ball got a wide open mid-range jumper ended up missing it but that that was

Sort of his overwhelming philosophy in this game like you can take away the three but it’s not going to matter like this is who I’ve been my whole career up until this year was a guy who just dominated from two-point range despite to your point being relatively short and

Relatively unathletic and I mean th this first quarter I I don’t think I’ve ever seen Jaylen reach as deep into his back maybe maybe that’s some recency bias but it was just over and over again like first play of the game Brook Lopez is in drop Jaylen goes right by him toasts him

For a lefty layup then a turnaround fade away in the paint using hartenstein to screen and rescreen which Mitchell Robinson can do a little bit but hartenstein is just maybe like 30% more mobile and just a little less awkward on those um again getting him the ball in

The move once Milwaukee tried to put Andre Jackson Jr on him who I think down the road is going to be an awesome Defender I mean it was like he he literally like it it it was grad school for Andre Jackson Jr like torched him on

A pump fake and a step through little nasty Inn out into like a and one like scoop layup on Damen Lillard then had that one on poris where Porter just like smashed him into the ground um and that was like following like a double crossover into like this CR step scoop

Pickup um and and still managed to make it Ubie Brown was like ready to pass out on that one and then down the stretch Alex like like the big shots um I I thought it was gonna be the dagger the one he hit over Dame which was like a

Durk fade away to beat the shot clock buzzer that made it 124 111 then missed two in a row Milwaukee was sneaking back in it was 124 118 um not not for us because we watched uh after the fact but for those watching live but holes were probably puckering a little bit

Ultimately didn’t matter it was Jaylen Brunson hit a little push shot all but ended the game um from first quarter to fourth quarter just just a a master class from Jaylen I don’t know how else to phrase it yeah and you know if he continues doing this I mean I think he’s

For sure put himself at the front of potential allar consideration at this point I mean I like for as good as Randle has been playing lately too and you know having the pedigree I don’t know that the Knicks will be able to get two all- stars in this year like I don’t

Know that randle’s going to be able to to get there but I think that Brunson is going to get there this year like I think that he’s he’s proven himself on this National stage enough and we’re now starting to hit All-Star Peak All-Star voting season uh I don’t know I’m I’m

Wondering at this point if the Knicks fan base is finally ready to like come through and vote enough and get him in as a starter because the way that he’s playing right now I think he’s making a lot of fans around the league despite all of the was there some other comment

That someone else made like in the pre-show or something about him not being a onea or something like that because Isaiah hartenstein put up an Instagram post afterwards was like that’s my onea right there about Jaylen Brunson I don’t know if that was still about Becky Hammond’s comments or what

Uh but yeah he’s I mean he’s he’s absolutely proved himself to be I think at this point the onea on this team and and this game just showed it more than any other game recently but he had plenty of help too I mean I I really enjoyed how pretty much everybody played

In this game game uh top to bottom but RJ Barrett Julius Randall and Emanuel quickley all had phenomenal games as well Gavin and I think we could probably talk about them in the next segment uh once we hear from our friends over at eBay Motors yeah Alex uh they they were

Incredible um but a service that’s even better is our partners at eBay Motors they’ve teamed up with locked on Fantasy Basketball host Josh Lloyd to bring you some of the best fantasy picks each week all season long whether you’re prepping for a daily draft or scouting the waiver

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And he’s one of my personal favorites I am gonna mention him again and because I honestly think out of the five names that uh Josh provided for us he’s he’s maybe the best option Isaiah hartenstein um it appears that Mitchell Robinson is out for the season and Isaiah

Hardenstein is the clear ad if he’s available is what Josh has to say I’m going to Echo those thoughts uh he is absolutely killing it right now had seven points in the first 90 seconds of the second half of this game and we’re seeing what he can do with Jaylen

Brunson and the way that Jaylen Brunson is operating right now opens up just so much for him because he’s consistently rolling to the rim and having someone like Damen Lillard on him he’s finishing with more patience better touch he is looking fantastic he’s going to help you

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These prices your burning rubber not cash keep your ride or die alive at ebaymotors.com eBay guaranteed fit only available to us customers eligible items only exclusions apply alrighty uh Alex I’m going I’m going to switch up the order here a little bit because I I don’t I I I feel

Like we can’t go any deeper into this podcast without talking about it this was probably the New York Knicks best win of the entire season had this amazing first quarter that was fueled almost entirely by RJ Barrett and um Jaylen Brunson I think I’m gonna double

Check it right now yeah they scored 26 of the Knicks first 29 Points finished I think with 29 of their 36 in the first quarter spectacular start by those guys and then every time Milwaukee made a little bit of a push the Knicks always had an answer Milwaukee never LED in the

Second half the closest they got was 7773 after a 90 run Tom Fido called timeout they adjusted some stuff in the pick and roll coverage you saw Josh Hart come out and have a couple of big finishes Julius Randall a couple nice plays earlier in the quarter when Jaylen

Brunson was on the bench Emanuel quickly then started Really Cooking to start the fourth you’re were getting at it a little bit to end segment one but this just felt like such a complete team win and such a dramatic turnaround from our fesus EP Festivus excuse me episode that

We recorded uh about 40 48 hours ago where we were really down in the dumps and and this this Bucks team obviously had won nine games in a row against inck they had a seven game winning streak right now and it just felt like the case of a horrible matchup that was Amplified

By no Mitchell Robinson and and frankly until I checked my phone and saw the final score I didn’t have a lot of hope that the Knicks were going to be able to pull this one out and and despite the fact that it ultimately was only a

Seven-point wi I I felt like they did more than that in in Thoroughly dominating about 75% of this game yeah and I think that I don’t know it’s always fun and weirdly vindicating when it almost feels like the Knicks are like listening to what people are saying

About the team now granted if we see something chances are people on the team are seeing it too and Tom Tom tiido watches the games three times he does watch the games three times we usually only watch them once so you know take

That for what it is uh you know so we we obviously don’t know as much but it felt like almost everything that we wanted to addressed was addressed in this game like the rotations were better uh I thought that tibs did a much better job of just leaving the guys out there that

Made sense and not doing things just by virtue of like what the call sheet said you know like it seems so often that it hits certain minute markers and it’s like oh Manuel Quickly’s playing pretty damn good in this fourth quarter and then all of a sudden it’s like yoink

You’re out of there bud like sorry your time’s up you know it’s time for RJ to get back in or whatever and that didn’t really happen in this game I thought that this was like everything made sense as far as the rotations I thought that their defensive strategy was really

Smart so this would be my I I’m gonna use this my opportunity to give hardenstein his flowers for this game like I thought that he did such a good job and you know you could maybe look at the final box score and whatever and say

Like oh he had four fouls like he was sort of in foul trouble a little bit like lightly throughout this game you’re were like oh dude you’re really kind of pushing it with like how many fouls you’re getting here like you know you you can’t afford to get in foul trouble

Again look at what happened to the Knicks in the last game when you did that but he did such a good job of establishing the physical tone in this game I think and that was exactly what was needed like the Bucks really especially you know a team with Giannis

Like they’re just gonna have their way with you on the inside sometimes they’re gonna get inside they’re GNA finish through contact they’re gonna you know make a your big men feel small you know by just by virtue of how strong they are of how physical they can be on the

Inside on both ends of the floor and hartenstein I thought like did such a good job of establishing that like no we’re the New York Knicks like you know called back you know the the Oakleys and the Masons and all those guys from the past and said like no like you’re not

Getting in our paint like we’re gonna be physical with you and that translates everybody like even there was there was one play that kind of stood out to me at one point where Giannis got free and almost was going up for a dunk and Dante Devan chenzo you know he’ll often go for

That like kind of block from behind and he sort of went for that but he also you could tell he didn’t have too much interest in necessarily getting that he just slapped the crap out of giannis’s arm and was like no that we’ll give up a

Foul if it means putting you on the free throw line like we’re not gonna let you do this to us this game and that sort of translated to everybody too and I thought that that was one of the biggest things like the Knicks need that defensive toughness back like I

Understand they gave up 122 points in this game which is less than ideal you know you want to maybe give up in the one the one teens at this point you know that’s sort of like the new NBA but the the fact that the Knicks offense is as

Good as it’s been lately you can afford to give up about 120 points in a game and you’ll be okay and that’s all they need to hit and so in this game they kind of just found what they needed to to only give up that 120 points and so

Much of that I think came from saying you’re not going to beat us on the inside and we’re also they did a really good job on closing out on Shooters too I mean there was still the open three here and there which will happen throughout the course of an NBA game but

I was I was so satisfied with just the defensive tone that they set up in this game and I thought that came down to like hartenstein first and foremost and then everybody else from there it just sort of built out from that yeah I think I think it’s a great point there there

Were a number of ways they were far improved defensively I mean one you put the ball in the basket more and you stop Milwaukee from getting out in transition that that is step one um because that’s where Milwaukee just killed them and got easy three after easy three easy Yiannis

Dunk after easy Yiannis dunk I thought it was really smart if tibs to just hardcore match randle’s minutes to Giannis because the the couple minutes they they weren’t on the floor at the same time last game and in the previous game without Mitchell Robinson in there there’s just there’s just not another

Matchup for him and and you can’t put hartenstein on him because that means Hart is guarding either like a Lopez or obviously we’ve seen Heartgard poris but they even they even made that adjustment where after I mean Bobby poris had 23 points the previous game against the

Knicks and in this one he he had 12 and and part of that was he went over for four from three but part of it was that the Knicks were doing a much better job sending double teams and and digging in on him we we saw Dante dienzo like cut

Off of a Damen Lillard which is super risky but like he timed it perfectly and he he he got the strip and then we saw Taj Gibson at The Rim on back-to-back plays after checking into the game strip Giannis and and and that was that was not happening the previous game so it

Was it was better offense it was it was better strategy and and I thought just simply better technique and a team that was more locked in um and even at the end of the third quarter like two straight Force turnovers when when the Bucks were trying to make a run so it

Was it was a couple of different elements but but just collectively um I I just thought everyone was was was way more on point um and and single biggest Improvement is RJ Barrett right we spent uh me me specifically about 20 minutes of a 35 minute episode complaining about

His game last time had a relatively quiet second half in this one didn’t play a whole lot down the stretch some I’m kind of shocked to see this number only finished with 28 minutes but that first quarter Alex absolutely electric filled in some gaps in the second did a

Couple of nice things in the second half Big Time bounceback Performance from RJ Alex yeah I’m With You Gavin and uh I want to talk about RJ and of course Julius Randall and Emanuel quickley in the next segment as well maybe some Josh Hart talking there too uh but first I

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Gavin you you ended on RJ Barrett and I want to talk about him too you know I okay maybe this will come off as hatery I want to First like say it wasn’t a perfect game for him like there was there was a couple things that like

There was a an opportunity late for the Knicks to sort of really put things away they had a four-on-one break and it was a great scoring opportunity yeah and oh boy RJ gets the ball with uh he gets it from uh I think it was Josh Hart was

Leading the break passes it to RJ who is running kind of down the center and then had Isaiah hartstein wide open coming around Baseline and just decides to go right into Christmas Middleton’s chest draws an offensive foul could have been a big momentum shift but was not thankfully but they would have been

Nowhere without his his early contributions I mean the big thing for me was once that first three went in it was so funny too because I made a note of this in my notes like his first three came on Julius was trying to like really make a statement early in the game and

Pulls this like beautiful uh uh spin move on janisan nmo goes up for this like huge Thunder dunk clangs it off the back the rim and then it Carin back out and eventually finds it way to R.J and he hits the three and the garden crowd didn’t go you could

Tell the garden crowd is a little deflated but I when I was watching it was like yes like this is exactly what the Knicks needed like if RJ makes a couple threes in this game everything changes for this team in this game because that’s sort of been the missing

Thing like in these games where the Knicks seem a little overwhelmed star power-wise it’s that RJ’s not playing up to that third star role that he’s been cast in um now as much as we kind of hated on his performance the last game because it was not as good overall like

He did make he has made now four of his last 10 threes because he was two of five in the last game as well even though they came a little late in the game I guess the difference in this one is that they came early in the game when

The Knicks really needed it uh in that first quarter run before Randall kind of got himself going because Randall I don’t think scored until if not if not the second quarter at the very minimum the late first quarter it was it was much later than usual in this game that

Rand got himself on the board and and really got going uh so RJ was a huge part of that I also you know didn’t he didn’t like score super highly in the assist column but other than that transition opportunity I thought that he did a pretty good job of of keeping the

Ball moving um of not purely looking for his own looks but I also thought the Knicks did a good job of like in tibs I would assume did a good job of sort of setting up some of his his sets that he’s better in like they were running

Him off some uh taken roll with with Isaiah hartenstein some which always puts him in that that sweet spot of being able to kind of put the defense on his hip and you know almost Emanuel quickly ask like you know make the decision from there and you know he

Finds Mitchell Robinson for lobs a lot that way when Mitch is playing uh but you know in this case just found Isaiah hartenstein I think once on one of those and then found his own shot on another um so it was just I I really liked what

The Knicks did to get him going and I really liked seeing a little bit of consist see out of RJ again uh on his own plus also rebounded the ball pretty well with six boards too so I was super super happy with his game yeah I mean

His shot I mean I don’t I don’t totally understand it sometimes maybe it was Drew hanen like flying out before this game and saying hey let’s get let’s get you right for Christmas but the shot just looked better and uh maybe we have to have pres back on to to break down

Exactly why but and I’m I’m that’s above my pay grade but it it looked it looked way smoother he made made a few early got on transition early um a sequence that really stood out to me early on because I just couldn’t get out of my

Head like like the image of like Chris Middleton just just bullying him at times last game and getting to his spot and finishing and and just noting the difference where like oh Middleton’s like two inches taller and just so much more confident where like RJ will sometimes throw out these like awkward

Like little push shots like Middleton just goes right into a turnaround in those spots but anyways this time around um RJ stripped him Middleton was trying to bully him um push the ball and instead of forcing the issue go running into the rim like he did later in the

Game like he did the previous game sought Dante dvan chenzo who he missed a couple of times last game um dvon chenzo missed the three RJ stuck with the play got to the rim put it back through contact uh awesome sequence and then the play that you’re referencing or you were

Referencing in the second half um just so patient in the pick and roll where where he snaked it and sometimes he snakes it and it feels a little bit aimless and it’s like all right you’re just kind of doing this because this is this is what you’re trained to do and

And what you had some success doing your second season this one felt very purposeful because it was two ensure that Lopez stuck with him instead of switching back onto hartenstein he gives a little pump fake so Lopez doubly can’t commit back to hardenstein then just

Slips it to ihart who had Beasley on him ended up being an and one I think I can’t remember was that time or another time where ihart ultimately missed the free throw but really nice play really good use of your big man um and that’s

One area where RJ I think has gotten a little bit better this year feels like his pick and roll craft has been really Sol he has maybe like once every two or three games has a really nice play in that respect um I think we got to we got

To jump over to Emanuel quickley who who was just spectacular to start the fourth quarter in this one um ended up having um at one point something like 20 points and I think only 18 or 19 minutes on the floor Alex but what did you make of his

Performance because I I I thought that sequence was so crucial with Brunson off the floor that the Knicks didn’t immediately give up the lead and instead extended it a little bit yeah I thought they you know that that was pretty key like so obviously Randall was pretty much matching giannis’s minutes so there

Was a stretch where Giannis wasn’t out there but the Bucks still had plenty of Talent on the floor and the Knicks had pretty much just their bench unit plus RJ out there uh early in that fourth quarter and they held it down like quickly was the biggest part of that the

Getting to the inside again super huge for him like getting all the way in also you know making three-pointers like he hit shot two of four in this game you know his shot has been notoriously streaky throughout his career too and even this year and so to see him kind of

Finding his consistency with that again is great but also I just thought that he did a good job of controlling the the flow of the game um you know you wouldn’t know it by looking at his like assist total like he only had one assist

Like it if you look at it you’re kind of just like oh he just scored in this game but it goes deeper than that like I think that much like Brunson you know Brunson is is more likely to you know kind of keep the ball in his

Hand longer and and try to create his opportunity and then maybe find someone for an assist quickly just when he knows that the given play isn’t going to be about him he’s he’s good about getting down there and just kind of like starting the motion correctly to get

Things going for other players and I thought they did that well in his stint with the bench there also pushing in transition uh I think the Knicks outscored the Bucks like I think they doubled them up in transition in this game I don’t know what the final tally

Was uh but they got a lot more points in transition and a lot more points in the paint yeah it was 20 23 to 12 almost exactly double there we go yeah so I mean it’s I think that quickly as usual played good part in that um but really

It was just the scoring chops I mean he it was kind of like he and R.J each sort of had their own moment in this game to be the the scoring presence that the Knicks needed like RJ had it in that first quarter um Randle sort of filled

In the blanks uh supplementing Jaylen Brunson and you know had it had his moments in the third quarter I think where he was getting inside and scoring there and then quickly just has that explosion at the beginning of the fourth quarter that the Knicks really needed

Just to kind of kind of keep the bucks at arms length because this was this was not quite a wire to wire win but it was pretty close I mean they they got up I think they said the Bucks last lead was with six minutes in the first quarter or

Something like that and then once the Knicks kind of took that lead and then built it at the end of the first quarter they did what good teams do and they just kept the bucks at at arms length the entire rest of the game you know the

Bucks closed it to within I think four was the closest that they got yeah in the second half and it you know was enough as you say to make your butthole clench a little bit but you know you just kind of sat there you were like no

Well okay I think they’re good I think they’re good and then you know quickly would make that bucket or brunon would make that bucket so he he played his role and you know if he and RJ can play this good going forward like they’re both I think they’re simultaneously the

The two guys with the I don’t know if this is I don’t know if this is discrediting how much higher Brunson can potentially go but I think that they’re the two guys with the highest potential ceilings that they could hit on this team you know who haven’t hit them yet I

Guess I should say um but they’re also notoriously kind of streaky and I I think if we could just keep seeing consistent forward momentum from them for a few more games and hopefully they can both reclaim what they had going early in the season we’re going to be in

Really good shape going forward yeah I I loved um the two-man game between him and Randall which um I mean you could say the same thing about Randall and Grimes like I I want as much of Randall like actively doing stuff with the guards as possible versus just I mean a

Little bit of isoing is fine because sometimes he’s he’s incredibly good at it but um that that is that’s that’s kind of my catnip that that’s what I enjoy watching and I also think it ends up being pretty efficient but there were there were two plays in that respect

That really stood out to me one of them was in the second quarter where it ended with quickly getting a wideopen floater but it started with him screening for Randall and it forced to switch and then Giannis um was basically just hovering near Julius because he didn’t he didn’t

Just want Julius to like back Malik Beasley into like the stanson and dunk on him um so then Randall plays that out backs it down whips it out to quickly Giannis has to do like this sporadic close out quickly does a really nice job pumping beating him off the dribble

Races in Nails a floater and in the fourth quarter the Knicks kind of went to the same thing after quickly um had just started cooking a little bit and he he got that same switch this time is Randle setting the screen so Giannis is on quickly Giannis is again hovering

Closer to Randall Randle has the ball but this time because randle’s on the wing instead of playing it out and backing him down and so often in those situations you’ll see Julius force it because he he’ll see a small guy and his eyes will light up but sometimes he’ll

Just overcommit and and by the time he’s willing to pass the ball it’s just too late or or he throws a bad pass because he’s two or three guys on him and this time he made the pass no pun intended quickly got it to IQ in the corner IQ

Hit the three and it felt like that’s what got iQ going because then two plays later he gets that three off the dribble hand off from hardstein we’re just sprinting off the ball full speed almost Steph Curry’s time we’ve seen him take that shot a lot this year hasn’t gotten

In a lot this year when in that time because he was in a really good Rhythm and then just blew by I think it was Lillard and beat porise to the rim for a layup um again like hasn’t finished at the rim with volume or efficiency this season that’s been coming around the

Last few games that was an awesome awesome play by him um so just a great night for quickly um Alex I’ll let you pick where we finish off um J Julius Randle Josh Hart were the two other guys we haven’t really totally discussed in depth yet that that each stood out to me

Um on the night yeah I want to throw okay you know I’m going to take total curveball I’m gonna give just a very quick shout out to Taj Gibson who I was just thinking about who came in and spelled hartenstein for 15 minutes in this game but made like three RI well so

First off he he had three blocks but then also stripped Giannis like two back to back two times in a row yeah it was two straight possessions and then bothered him on a third I mean he he played really great defense at a at a key juncture for the Knicks uh so I’ll

Just shout him out for first but then I’ll go to Julius Randall who’s who makes a lot more sense to go to next uh 24 points eight of 17 shooting two of five from three six of six from the free throw line nine boards two assists of

Steel uh I from Randall this was this was like peak of what he would offer you last year I feel like I mean this was he managed to find that shot profile again that worked so well for him and kept the team you know kept the Bucks honest

Enough from three that he was able to just completely go at whoever he wanted to on the inside uh he had some really impressive like just outmuscling guys takes in this game like at one point went right into Brook Lopez’s chest took it up on him and that

One kind of like made my eyebrows raise a bit like I saw that and I was like man that’s lately that for Julius or RJ has been not necessarily a shot that I want to see them taking because they just for whatever reason have not been able to

Figure out those super super big shot blocking type guys lately and randle’s mostly been looking for the mismatches and exploiting those uh which he certainly did in this game too you know he had some uh he had some mismatches that he took advantage of um I think he

Went in on lard at one point that was a really nice one like he kind of he managed to get that switch on the Lillard and um but yeah it was I I just thought another quintessentially good Julius game in this one and kind of just gave everything the Nicks needed the

Defensive rebounding from him continues to be and I mean you could say this for HART too who had nine defensive rebounds in this game but those two guys I think are really like the the catalysts on the defensive glass for the Knicks right now you know as hartenstein kind of plays

The Mitch Ro of occupying the other team’s best rebounder with a good box out and keeping them away uh those guys have been doing good you know there’s a few moments of Giannis just using his Greek Freak length and athleticism to tap rebounds out that were frustrating

Like he tapped one or two out of guys hands uh including Randall in this game a couple times but all in all I thought they did a good job of trying to tag their man and and make sure to get that rebound too uh which led to a lot of

Those transition opportunities for the Knicks after they would have that tough defense inside get that rebound and then just get that forward momentum going uh which obviously Josh Hart did a really great great job of as well if you want to close things out talking about him

Yeah no that that’s exactly where I was going to go um I I thought I thought he would H had a really nice game and obviously it helped a lot that they gave him a little bit more help on on poris and and in the second half the Bucks

That that match up that was so overwhelming last game they didn’t even really try to go to because they were almost kind of wary of it but he he came in and like I think literally the second play he was in just aggressively pushed the pace off a rebound and said RJ up

For a layup um had this absurd steal in the first quarter where he was chasing Damen Lillard off the ball and it was just a drive by strip of Giannis and and anyone who’s seen giannis’s hands I mean the the the basketball it’s it’s like him holding a grapefruit and and Hart

Was able to knock it away so it tells you how strong Hart is on those strips um went Coast to Coast on Chris Middleton that was that was great to see because Middleton again was just a bully the last time these two teams played two days before and then the third quarter

Like had had two really nice Runners just just to give the Knicks a little bit of secondary scoring and I like anyone who was listening earlier this year I was I was kind of preaching that hard just had to be more aggressive in the half court the transition stuff is

Great but where he really helped the Knicks at time last year was his ability to just go and get into the lane and make something happen and unlike an RJ Barrett like he has really good touch in the mid-range and I I don’t necess I

Don’t I think him taking a floater or a short fade away is generally a pretty good shot 10 points nine rebounds four assists two steals plus seven second highest on the team he he was just super duper solid and and that’s what they need from him against the best teams in

Basketball uh winning the season I’m going to say yes for the Knicks Alex 129 to 122 over the milwauke walkie bucks they’ll be back in Action another really tough game against Oklahoma City Thunder but big picture you looked at the stretch without Mitchell Robinson you’re you’re just kind of saying all right

Whatever whatever you want to call it before the allstar Pi something like 16 games if they could just go 500 that would be pretty darn good and and they’re right on track for that right now and and they just kind of have to finish it off yeah I’m with you I think

This is the win of the Season too I mean the the Miami game was great as well you know it’s both National TV games but this one I just think I think this is the Nick statement that you know even without Mitchell Robinson I mean even with Mitchell Robinson they were

Struggling to beat the best teams in the league um you know they weren’t able to beat Milwaukee yet this year they still have to face their whole slate with the Sixers they have to face the Celtics more times they still have to face Milwaukee another time after this just

Disgusting schedule making this year thanks to the in season tournament so they’re gonna have more games like this coming up so I think this is important for them on this big stage like prove that they can win a game like this do it more or less wire to wire like this

Wasn’t like you know you can’t say like oh this was just a big run that they went on you know they just got hot at the end you know whatever like but they didn’t outplay the Bucks necessarily for the entire game uh this was this was straight up they just outplayed the best

Team maybe okay they’re not the best team record-wise as of this second but I think probably the best team in basketball right now uh they just outplayed them thoroughly and and took home a win on their home floor and things do get easier for the Knicks going forward like they’ve played a lot

More Road games than most teams so far this year uh so they will have a lot more time on the Madison Square Garden Floor coming up too uh so I think that all things are looking good for the Knicks and this was hopefully a big momentum building statement win uh and

Maybe they’ll have another one against Oklahoma City we will be there for you to cover it regardless of what the outcome is but till next time thank you all for listening and uh Merry day after Christmas and Merry nickmas you know all that good stuff and talk to you’all soon peace out

Everybody damn it man we had no timing on the video text yeah we’ll get

Alex and Gavin break down the Knicks’ 129-122 win over the Milwaukee Bucks on Christmas, their first big win over an Eastern Conference power team this season. The guys get into Jalen Brunson’s dominance, big games for RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley, Isaiah Hartenstein’s impact setting the tone, another great Julius Randle game, and much more!

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