The Milwaukee Bucks are enduring one of the worst starts in franchise history as they navigate their first season without Giannis Antetokounmpo.
On the other end of the spectrum, the New York Knicks’ championship defense is finally taking shape the way they envisioned.
The Knicks will look to continue surging Tuesday night, when they host the rebuilding Bucks in an Eastern Conference clash.
The Knicks have been off since Saturday, when they cruised to a 109-97 win over the host Cleveland Cavaliers. The Bucks closed out a two-game homestand Sunday night, falling to the Boston Celtics, 117-97.
New York got over .500 for the first time this season in appropriate fashion by riding a dominant stretch to defeat the Cavaliers, whom the Knicks swept in the Eastern Conference finals in May.
The surge Saturday wasn’t quite as dramatic as the one the Knicks mounted in Game 1 of the conference finals on May 19, when they stormed back from a 22-point fourth-quarter deficit to stun the Cavaliers, 115-104, in overtime.
But as he did more than five months ago, Jalen Brunson played a big part in Saturday’s comeback, scoring the first 18 points in a 29-17 run that ended the first half and put the Knicks ahead for good.
Brunson had 15 points in the fourth quarter of the stunning win on May 19.
The win Saturday was the third straight and the fifth in the last six games for the Knicks, who were the first defending NBA champion to open 0-3 since the Dallas Mavericks in 2011-12. New York’s average margin of victory in its five wins is 15 points per game.
“I think we’re in a good place,” Brunson said. “Obviously, bounced back from our start, but just going to try to do our best to not be complacent. Continue to get better every single day. Just because we’ve been winning a couple games doesn’t mean like we’re just back to who we are.”
The Bucks’ identity changed permanently July 6, when Antetokounmpo — a two-time NBA Most Valuable Player and the Finals MVP in 2021, when Milwaukee won its first title since 1971 — was dealt to the Miami Heat along with Bobby Portis in exchange for four players, four draft picks and a pick swap.
Milwaukee’s top two scorers this season are Tyler Herro (21.4 points per game) and Jaime Jaquez Jr. (15.2 ppg), each of whom was part of the return for Antetokounmpo, the Bucks’ all-time leader in most major offensive categories.
The Bucks suffered their sixth straight loss Sunday and ninth in their first 10 games, which is tied for the worst 10-game start in franchise history with the 1974-75 and 1993-94 teams. Milwaukee hasn’t opened 1-10 since that 1993-94 season.
Just two of the Bucks’ nine losses have been by fewer than 10 points. Milwaukee entered Monday averaging 108.4 points per game, the sixth-lowest figure in the NBA, while allowing 121.6 points per game, the third-highest in the league.
“We just have to focus on tomorrow,” first-year Bucks head coach Taylor Jenkins said. “Get ready for some tough challenges, but continue to stay the course. Trusting the things we’re talking about — everyone looking in the mirror and figuring out how they can continue to get better, impact winning.”
