NBA Game of the Week for the Week of March 25-April 1
The Milwaukee Bucks will visit Madison Square Garden to face the New York Knicks in this week's NBA Game of the Week. The Knicks hold a slim one-and-a-half-game lead over the Bucks for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. With a win, Milwaukee will climb within a half game of New York.
This will be the third of four regular-season meetings between these two teams. Milwaukee defeated New York in the first two matchups and can clinch the season series with a win. If the Bucks get the win, they will earn the tiebreaker in the event that the two teams end the season with the same record.
(All statistics and records are through March 25)
Monday, March 25, Milwaukee Bucks (22-26) at New York Knicks (24-25), 7:30 p.m. on MSG
Milwaukee has won six of its last seven trips to New York including a 100-86 victory in its last visit to Madison Square Garden on January 20. In that game, Brandon Jennings led the Bucks to their first road win of the season with 36 points on 15-for-26 shooting and six three-pointers.
At the trade deadline, Milwaukee acquired Monta Ellis from the Golden State Warriors to pair with Jennings in the backcourt. At 21.0 points per game, Ellis is the NBA's 11th best scorer and is more than capable of a 30-point performance himself.
The Bucks have won five straight on the road and look to extend their road win streak to six with another victory in New York. To do so, Milwaukee will need a solid performance from at least one of the two dynamic guards on their roster.
In the first two meetings between these teams, Mike D'Antoni was New York's coach. In this game, the Bucks will get their first look at the Knicks with Mike Woodson at the helm. Since Woodson took over as head coach, New York has averaged 100.9 points per game while holding opponents to an average of just 86.9 points en route to a 6-1 record.
If the Knicks want to avoid their fifth consecutive loss to the Bucks, they will have to maintain the same kind of defensive intensity that they have exhibited over their last seven games.
When the regular season comes to an end, it is likely that either the Bucks or Knicks will be in the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. The result of this game may determine which team it will be.
Mark is a lifelong NBA fan who has loved the game of basketball ever since his first trip to an NBA arena. Mark has watched more basketball games than anyone can count and has more than 100 articles about the NBA published on the internet. Mark also shares his random NBA musings and game-by-game predictions on RandomNBAFan.com.
Information from ESPN.com's NBA Schedule, 2011-2012 NBA Regular Season Conference Standings, Milwaukee Bucks vs. New York Knicks—Recap—January 20, 2012 and 2011-12 Regular Season NBA Player Stats and League Leaders was used for this article.
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