Knicks could be problem

Record deceiving due to schedule

By TOM ENLUND
tenlund@journalsentinel.com
Posted: Dec. 11, 2005

Life is good for the Milwaukee Bucks.

Their victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Saturday night at the Bradley Center was their fifth in the last six games and improved their record to 11-7, marking the first time this season they have risen to four games above the.500 mark.

They are routinely finishing off opponents in close games, have been knocking off Eastern Conference rivals like clockwork and have shown an amazing propensity for winning on the road.

And with the 6-13 New York Knicks next on the schedule tonight at Madison Square Garden, the Bucks should feel good about their chances for extending their productive streak.

Wrong.

That because this one has trouble written all over it if the Bucks aren't tuned in to the task at hand.

"I think their record is deceiving because of their schedule," Bucks coach Terry Stotts said, referring to the Knicks.

New York's schedule so far has been downright brutal. They opened the Larry Brown era by playing 13 of their first 19 games on the road.

That includes two West Coast trips, one lasting six games in mid-November and the other a three-game journey that concluded Friday with a four-point loss to Phoenix. Earlier on the more recent trip, the Knicks lost to the Los Angeles Clippers by five points and beat Seattle.

And so, New York is done traveling to the West Coast already. The last time the Knicks had two West Coast trips before Christmas was in 1986-'87 and they now get to settle in and play 17 of their next 25 games at home.

And it's not as if they have been getting blown out. The Knicks have played eight games that have been decided by six points or fewer, winning two of them.

"They're a young team and they're playing hard," Stotts said. "And I know by watching some of their games earlier that they're in a lot of games. I don't necessarily know the numbers but I know they're playing hard and they're competing."

One thing in the Bucks' favor, though, is that they have been quite competitive on the road so far this season, winning five of their nine games away from home. The only other Eastern Conference teams with winning road records so far are Detroit (9-1), Indiana (5-4) and Chicago (6-5).

Nine Western Conference teams have winning road records.

The Bucks opened the season with road victories in Philadelphia and New Jersey and have since won at Golden State, Washington and Philadelphia again.

"It's early," Stotts said. "I think there were only two or three teams last year in the Eastern Conference that were over .500 on the road for the year. Right now, we're over .500 on the road. . . . The first two, at Philly and New Jersey, really set the tone."

Last season in the Eastern Conference, Detroit (22-19), and Miami (24-17) were the only teams with winning road records. In the Western Conference, San Antonio (21-20), Dallas (29-12), Houston (25-16), Seattle (26-15) and Phoenix (31-10) had winning records on the road.

Cleaning the glass: Milwaukee's game Saturday matched the two top rebounding teams in the league. Cleveland went into the game ranked first in overall rebounding percentage and the Bucks were second. Milwaukee won the battle of the boards, 41-28, and had a decisive 15-5 edge on the offensive glass.

"We lost the game because we gave up 15 offensive rebounds," Cleveland coach Mike Brown said.

Jamaal Magloire led the Bucks with 15 rebounds despite sitting out the last 7 minutes with five fouls. He played 28 minutes.

"Jamaal's presence inside defensively . . . our big guys really worked hard," Stotts said. "Jamaal and Andrew (Bogut) and Dan (Gadzuric) and Toni (Kukoc) did a good job of trying to protect the paint. To rebound the way we did was a big factor for us."

Dialing long distance:T.J. Ford's 5-for-5 shooting from three-point range Saturday brought him up to 45.8% for the season (11 for 24) which is second on the team to only Michael Redd (50.7%) among those who have taken 10 or more three-point shots.

The Bucks are a good team. We really have to play our game and try to improve on the high turnovers. I think we can win this game. i think we match up very well with the Bucks. They have some explosive guards and our guards are going to have to match them. The biggest thing is our DEFENSE. I think they will be surprised at how hard they'll have to work in this game. So far we've played well against some of the better offensive teams. I don't care if we win by one point, I just want the win.

Posted by BlueSeats:

I'm a bit leery of a funeral hangover for this one. Not sure I see us coming out with fire and desire.

i don't know, "win one for Q" could rally the team a bit. could go either way.