Calling the Milwaukee Bucks (18-3) 44-point drubbing of the New York Knicks a rout is being kind. No matter what you call it, however, the Bucks’ easy victory extended their current winning streak to 12 games, and gave them the league’s best record over the LA Lakers (17-3).
Giannis “Greek Freak” Antetokounmpo and the Bucks completed back-to-back, 40-point victories to become only the fifth team in NBA history to achieve that tremendous feat. The Bucks blew out the Charlotte Hornets by 41 points over the weekend.
Antetokounmpo scored 29 points and hauled down 15 rebounds in an easy victory. The Knicks (4-17) found themselves in the hole from the opening tip off. The Bucks led by 18 at the end of the first quarter. By the end of the half, the Bucks extended their lead to 27 points. At the end of the third quarter, the Knicks were down by 38 points. When the final buzzer sounded, the Knicks had lost by 44.
The Bucks are playing their best stretch of basketball since the 1981-82 season.
“Everybody shows up every day, and they’re hungry,” said Antetokounmpo. “Nobody relaxes. We show up and do our job. We smile. We’re having fun about it, and it’s nice. Usually teams tend to relax, but we don’t do that.”
12 IN A ROW.
The best of last night's 44-point victory: pic.twitter.com/tDQtSibm7J
— Milwaukee Bucks (@Bucks) December 3, 2019
The high-octane Bucks average 120.8 points per game as the highest-scoring team in the NBA. The Greek Freak leads the Bucks with 30.8 points, 13.4 rebounds, and 5.8 assists per game. Only James Harden scores more than the Freak, who is having another stellar MVP campaign.
12 in Row
The Bucks last lost 103-100 to the Utah Jazz on Nov. 8, 2019. Since then, they’ve successfully navigated three weeks of the season without losing another game in 12 attempts. They avenged their loss to Utah with a four-point victory over the Jazz last Monday.
Ten out of the 12 wins on this current streak came against teams with a losing record, including the Thunder (8-11), Bulls (7-14), Hawks (5-16), Blazers (8-11), Pistons (7-13), Cavs (5-14), Hornets (8-14), and Knicks (4-17). The Bucks actually played and beat the Bulls and Hawks twice.
NBA All-Time Winning Streaks
33 Los Angeles Lakers (1971-72)
27 Miami Heat (2012-13)
24 Golden State Warriors (2015-16)
22 Houston Rockets (2007-08)
20 Milwaukee Bucks (1970-71)
The Bucks hold the fifth-best winning streak in the history of the NBA. The 1970-71 squad, featuring Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (as Lew Alcindor), won Milwaukee’s only NBA championship. They rattled off 20 straight wins in the winter of 1971.
Anytime you draw comparisons to the 1970-71 Bucks, one of the greatest teams ever assembled, you know you’re doing something right.
The Bucks have a one-game road trip to play the Detroit Pistons (7-13) before returning to Milwaukee for a three-game home stand. The LA Clippers (15-6) come to town on Friday Night for a rematch between Kawhi Leonard and Antetokounmpo, after the two met in the Eastern Conference Finals last season. Kawhi and the Raptors knocked out the Bucks in six games to advance to the NBA Finals.
They Bucks also host the Orlando Magic (8-11) and the New Orleans Pelicans (6-14). If they beat the Clippers, they could easily extend their streak to 16 games by the middle of next week.
According to William Hill, the Milwaukee Bucks are 5/1 odds to win the 2020 NBA Championship.
