NBA Matchups: Christmas Day

Milwaukee Bucks at New York Knicks

Team Totals: Bucks 122.5, Knicks 119.5

Injury Report: Giannis Antetokounmpo (P, foot)

Bucks projected starters: Damian Lillard, Malik Beasley, Khris Middleton, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Brook Lopez

Knicks projected starters: Jalen Brunson, Donte DiVincenzo, R.J. Barrett, Julius Randle, Isaiah Hartenstein

Griffin quotes: Said rebounding and keeping FTAs down were the key, said Middleton is “rolling” and Saturday was one of his best games, said Andre Jackson and Cam Payne made a nice impact in limited minutes, said he should try to get Brook Lopez the ball in the post more, said he’s confident the defense is starting to carry them, said he expects Thibs to make adjustments on them.

Thibs quotes: Said Hartenstein foul trouble hurt them early and it “snowballed from there”, said they had a “low energy-type game” on Saturday, said they need hustle points against the size of the Bucks.

Stats and Notes: 

*These teams just faced each other on Saturday with the Bucks cruising to a 130-111 win. The Bucks have been coasting on offense to get up to fourth overall, and they haven’t had a bad offensive game all month. The Knicks have laid some pretty big defensive eggs since Mitchell Robinson went down, and the Bucks killed them on the ball with PNR scoring (30 points) with plenty of transition scoring (33 points). The Bucks are still vulnerable on the defensive end with some weak on-ball defense, so the Knicks should have a chance to put up numbers.

*Jalen Brunson has owned the Bucks and just put up 36 on Saturday, and he’s averaged a 35/4/6 line in three games against them. The Bucks keep putting Malik Beasley on him, and Brunson just keeps cooking him with the drop coverage behind him. Brunson should go off in this one.

*Julius Randle gets a much tougher matchup, as he has to deal with Giannis on both ends, but Randle has put up some OK numbers with a 28/9/4 line in three games. It’s still a really tough matchup with all the length from the Bucks, so I wouldn’t be too excited to play him.

*Isaiah Hartenstein had an insta-foul on Saturday to make it an uphill climb for him. The matchup isn’t great, but Thibs clearly wants to play him heavy minutes. He’s OK just from a role perspective.

*R.J. Barrett had a brutal start on Saturday with a 1-of-10 line to kick things off, but he was able to get it going late to finish with a 13/7/1 line. He will have to deal with Khris Middleton on both ends, but Brook Lopez’s rim protection makes it an uphill climb.

*Giannis Antetokounmpo hasn’t exactly lit up the Knicks with just a 28/7/7 line in three games. The Knicks are much more vulnerable inside without Robinson, and Griffin continues to play Giannis a ton of minutes. This isn’t an ideal spot for Giannis, but he still has some of the biggest upside on the slate.

*Damian Lillard has been just OK against the Knicks with a 26/5/6 line over the three games. The Knicks are going to put Donte DiVincenzo on him, and Dame was mediocre against Donte with a 19/9/7 line over 34 minutes. Lillard’s usage rate has been consistently in the upper 20s most games, but it doesn’t help that Middleton’s minutes are increasing. Lillard is a good, not great, option.

*Khris Middleton is coming off a fantastic game with a 20/5/5 line in 33 minutes. He’ll see R.J. Barrett on both ends, and the Knicks should leave him open off ball to load up on the other stars. Now that Middy is getting full minutes, he’s going to offer more upside.

*Griffin mentioned he wants to get Brook Lopez the ball more, and he has a chance to produce against Hartenstein here. Lopez is playing heavy minutes these days, so he could hit his ceiling. There’s not too much else to say.

Great matchups: Jalen Brunson

Good matchups: Brook Lopez, Khris Middleton, Damian Lillard

Bad matchups: Isaiah Hartenstein

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