Bucks 132, Knicks 88: The streak hits 12 in another game that's over almost from the start

If you were wondering what the gulf looks like between the best and worst team in the Eastern Conference, Monday's game between the Milwaukee Bucks and New York Knicks painted a pretty clear picture.

On one side were the Bucks, complete with a superstar, a deep, complementary roster and a clear vision of who they are and who they want to become. They also exhibit a closeness and collective joy up and down the bench, with players cheering on their teammates from start to finish.

“We’re having fun, man," Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo said. "When you win it’s all great and nice. But at the end of the day, I think we, as a team, the atmosphere is great."

On the other were the Knicks, whose two max contract slots this summer yielded a bewildering hodgepodge of players who don't fit well or offer much of an idea how New York will potentially climb out of the cellar.

Add in the fact that the Knicks were on a back-to-back and without multiple players – including the top two points guards in their depth chart – and it should come as no surprise that Fiserv Forum's feature presentation Monday night was a one-sided affair. The Bucks scored on the first play off the tip and never trailed – leading by as many as 47 points – en route to a 132-88 victory.

The win was the league-leading 12th in a row for the Bucks, sending the Knicks to their seventh consecutive loss, which is also the longest among current streaks.

Milwaukee's performance looked fairly similar to Saturday's runaway against the Charlotte Hornets. Monday night marked the Bucks' sixth wire-to-wire win of the season and marked the second successive game that all 13 available players scored.

“A good win, a lot of guys played well," Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer said. "It was good for us to get everybody out on the court (and) some other guys not play heavy minutes. These can kind of add up during the season. Tough back-to-back for them but proud of the way our guys focused from start to finish.”

Antetokounmpo wrapped up his 20th double-double of the season well before halftime. He played just seven minutes after halftime, finishing with 29 points, 15 rebounds and three assists in just 22 minutes of action.

His all-star running mate, Khris Middleton, who returned to the starting lineup for the first time since suffering a left thigh contusion on Nov. 10, opened the game with a three-pointer and finished the first quarter with 10 points. He went on to put up 16 points, seven rebounds and three assists in just 18 minutes.

“Donte (DiVincenzo) did a hell of a job, I think, taking my place and I was all for it," Middleton said of coming off the bench the past three games. "He was playing well, the team was playing well. I was glad I was able to come back in the starting lineup and not mess things up.”

The highlight of Middleton's night came on an early steal and breakaway. As he dribbled across the court with no Knicks giving chase, everyone got off the bench in mocking anticipation of the dunk that was to come. Middleton, in his head telling himself not to mess up, dutifully put it down with two hands, laughing at his teammates' sideline reaction.

BOX SCORE: Bucks 132, Knicks 88

The lopsided game meant plenty of action for everyone on the Bucks' bench and D.J. Wilson, in particular, made the most of it. Wilson led four double-digit scorers off the bench with a career-high 19 points on 8 of 9 shooting, including going 3 of 4 from three-point range.

He starred in the fourth quarter, knocking down back-to-back triples at one point as part of his 12-point quarter, with all of those points coming in a span of less than four minutes.

"That's cool, that boy's good," Donte DiVincenzo said in an on-court interview after hearing of Wilson's career-high performance. "That's all you can say."

As a team, the Bucks shot 55.8% from the field, knocked down 16 of 35 three-pointers (45.7%) and racked up a season-high 58 rebounds. The Knicks, meanwhile, barely eked out a shooting percentage over 30% and played haphazardly throughout the night.

Injury updates

Bucks enter Brook Lopez and guard Sterling Brown sat again Monday, missing their second and third games, respectively.

The prognosis is looking better for Lopez, a starter who has been sidelined by back soreness.

“Brook we’re hoping is pretty short term," Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer said. "I think giving him a couple games is going to be really wise in the long run. So we’ll see how he feels tomorrow and unless something changes he’ll travel with us and I think we’re hopeful maybe he’ll play Wednesday.”

Brown, who is dealing with a sprained AC joint in his right shoulder, is recovering faster than the Bucks initially expected. He suffered the injury in the first quarter of last week's game against the Atlanta Hawks and there was some fear he could miss extended time, but Budenholzer indicated prior to Monday's game that Brown could potentially be back in action as soon as this week.

Roommates reunited

Knicks coach David Fizdale fielded a question during his pregame scrum about how the Bucks have taken to Budenholzer's scheme. New York's coach took that answer down an unexpected path, revealing how he and Budenholzer met as camp counselors -- and roommates -- about three decades ago.

The two men -- then barely removed from high school -- spent part of their summer together as counselors at the Superstar Basketball Camp in Santa Barbara, Calif. They've kept up correspondence ever since, both working their way up through the NBA from being in the video room to taking on head coaching duties for multiple teams.

“Bud is a great coach," Fizdale said. "I knew Bud was going to be a great coach a long time ago back when we were at Superstar Camp and we were roommates as 19- and 20-year-olds the way he saw the game, the way he thought out the game. … He learns from everything that he goes through and he continues to build step-by-step from what he learns through. We’re talking about an elite guy and a very humble guy at the same time.”