Bucks put up 146 points vs. Knicks to reach tournament semis،
MILWAUKEE — When the Milwaukee Bucks put together the duo of Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard, they imagined their team would have the kind of offensive firepower it showed Tuesday night.
The Bucks recorded their highest point total of the season in a 146-122 victory over the New York Knicks to advance to the semifinals of the NBA season tournament Thursday in Las Vegas, where they will face the Indiana Pacers.
“I thought it was probably our best offensive game,” said Lillard, who scored 28 points on 8-of-13 shooting. “That doesn't mean we're going to become a team that does that every night, but I “I think we have that type of explosiveness. We can't count on those kinds of nights every time, but it's definitely a look at the kind of nights we can have offensively.”
Antetokounmpo led the Bucks with 35 points and 10 assists, and Milwaukee improved to 12-1 this season when Lillard scored at least 25 points, but the Bucks rode a 3-point avalanche to victory. Milwaukee made 23 of its 38 3-point attempts while shooting 60.5 percent from the field, marking just the second time in franchise history that the team has shot at least 60 percent while taking 35 3-point shots.
And the Bucks did it against one of the NBA's stingiest defenses in New York, which led the league in opponent points per game on Tuesday before giving up the most points the franchise has allowed since 1979 .
“They’re a great offensive team,” Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said. “We gave them confidence from the start and then the start of the third period was a big problem for us.”
The Bucks improved to 5-0 in this season's tournament, beating the Knicks for the second time in tournament play. Milwaukee began the season with championship aspirations, but as Bucks players began entering this tournament, they also became focused on winning it.
“We want to win two championships this year,” said Bucks guard Malik Beasley, who made six 3-pointers Tuesday and finished with 18 points.
“You come out of this thing on top, the last team standing, I think that’s a pretty strong statement,” Lillard said. “It’s something that everyone in the league has to respect.”
Milwaukee's victory set up a showdown with Indiana and its top-ranked offense. The Bucks are ranked third in the league in offensive efficiency.
“Tonight was a huge step. We wanted to go to Vegas,” Bucks coach Adrian Griffin said. “But when we get to Vegas, we'll have to take care of business. We still have two games to win there.”
Over the first few months of the season, the Bucks recognized that they were a work in progress, still finding the best way to use Lillard and Antetokounmpo together on the court. Despite the learning curve, the Bucks started the season 15-6 and won 10 of their final 12 games, which was encouraging for Lillard as they headed to Las Vegas while playing their best basketball of the season .
“There have been some bumps in this process and we don't play very well some nights, but we're still able to win those games,” Lillard said. “I think now it's just starting to become a little more fluid – knowing where we should be on the field, knowing how to give each other outlets, knowing how to help each other be who we are. It's not perfect, but I like that, we are showing improvement and it continues and you can see it on the field.”
