On paper, the matchup Friday night at Fiserv Forum between the New York Knicks and Milwaukee Bucks served as a potential first-round playoff preview between the two teams, with the Knicks holding the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference and the Bucks sitting in sixth.

Unfortunately, the depth of such a preview was shallowed out as the Bucks lost, 116-107, without star Damian Lillard and reserve big men Bobby Portis Jr. and Jericho Sims. The Knicks were without their star point guard Jalen Brunson and his primary backup in Cameron Payne.

“This is who we are,” Giannis Antetokounmpo said. “We have to keep on watching film as a team and keep on coming together and try to figure out ways to win games. At times we played good basketball. We got back in the game, within four points, six points, it was good. But it wasn’t enough. They were more physical. They played with more effort than us and they are a better team than us. Simple as that.”

Milwaukee dropped to 40-33 overall, lost its third in a row and for the eighth time in its last 12 games.

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“Just disappointed in our how we’re playing,” Bucks head coach Doc Rivers said. “And that’s on me. I gotta get this turned around.”

Antetokounmpo said the Bucks didn’t want it more, or played with more of an edge than the Knicks for 48 minutes.

“If we have the opportunity to see (New York) in the playoffs, or whoever we see in the playoffs, we have to be the toughest, nastiest team out there. We have to. That’s the only chance we’re gonna get to be good. We’re gonna watch film, we’re gonna be better.”

But does he see a path to do so?

“The last six years I have been, I think three times the No. 1 team in the East, No. 1 team in the NBA,” Antetokounmpo began. “I’ve been twice, I think, third. I’ve been one time fourth. It doesn’t really matter. I’ve played against Toronto in the Eastern Conference finals (in 2019) and in the regular season we beat them 4-0, or 3-0, they never beat us. We were the No. 1 seed in the East and we lost from Miami, that was the No. 8 seed and they went all the way to the finals (in 2023). Like, at the end of the day, the only thing I think about is we have the regular season, nine games left, and then we have two months to change our lives. That’s pretty much it. You gotta lock in two months, and stay healthy, and go out there and compete. That’s all you gotta think about.”

New York (46-27) had been similarly sputtering along heading into the game, with a 5-7 mark over its last 12 before the win.

The Bucks were swept in the three-game season series against the Knicks, but the first two losses were in November and January. Milwaukee’s roster was reshaped at the trade deadline with an eye on having better matchups against the Knicks, so even though the Bucks were without Lillard and the two reserve big men, Friday’s game did provide a sample illustration at how the Bucks would defend Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns (14 points, 10 rebounds), as they put Giannis Antetokounmpo and Kyle Kuzma on him and coerced him into five fouls.

Unfortunately for the Bucks, they didn’t have an answer for Knicks wings Mikal Bridges (26 points) and OG Anunoby, who effectively put the game away for New York by scoring 20 of his 31 points in the fourth quarter.

“We did some things defensively that I liked, the only thing I didn’t like in it was it kind of got Bridges loose. We had a concerted effort of taking Towns out, that part worked. The problem with what we were doing, I thought, got Bridges loose a little. We’ll look at it.

“I thought we did make a bunch of mistakes in the first half on the coverage that we were supposed to be doing, but I haven’t watched it yet. But I did like, we had a game plan with Towns and I thought it worked terrifically overall. But we let the other guys get loose. (Landry) Shamet hurt us. I thought Delon Wright us in the first half. But Bridges and Anunoby were the difference in the game tonight for them.”

The Knicks also took advantage of Bucks mistakes offensively, scoring 26 points on 16 Milwaukee turnovers.

“I think it’s just a little bit in their DNA as well, too — it’s how they play defense, kind of being more physical on the ball and not having to help as much,” Bucks guard Ryan Rollins said. “If we drive it’s not like it’s easy kicks, super easy kicks for us. It’s like they stay at home a little bit more, which causes turnovers.”

And, as usually is the case when they play New York, the Bucks struggled to keep the Knicks off the offensive glass. New York scored 15 second-chance points on 14 offensive rebounds. Those extra possessions allowed the Knicks to attempt 18 more shots than the Bucks.

Antetokounmpo equated that discrepancy to not playing the first quarter at all and beginning play in the second quarter.

“You’re not going to win a lot of games (like that),” Rivers said. “We shot 55% basically if you round off the numbers and they shot 48%, you’re gonna win a lot of games (like that). It wasn’t just the turnovers, the offensive rebounds and turnovers, I think it was a combination of those two things and that was the difference in the game. It’s impossible to win that game.”

Antetokounmpo, who was a game time decision after suffering a left foot sprain on Monday, returned to the lineup for the Bucks after missing a game. He scored 30 points on 11 of 17 shooting. He also had nine rebounds and seven assists.

Ryan Rollins was put back in the starting lineup and provided an offensive spark with a career-high 20 points on 8 of 12 shooting.

“Opportunity and just comfortability, me knowing that Dame (is out) — we don’t know the timeline on him — so just me having to step up to make the most of the opportunity and just be who I am and step into the role and not shy away and be as passive as I’ve been sometimes,” Rollins said of his recent stretch of strong play. “So, just being aggressive, honestly.”

Bucks sink deeper into sixth seed

Not only did the Bucks lose the game Friday night, they dropped a full game behind Detroit for the sixth seed as the Pistons throttled the Cleveland Cavaliers, 133-122, without star guard Cade Cunningham earlier in the evening. The Pistons improved to 42-32.

The Bucks have won the first two meetings over the Pistons this season, and the teams will face one another in Detroit on April 11 and finish out the season with a matinee at Fiserv Forum on April 13.

Milwaukee also dropped three games behind Indiana (43-30) in the loss column.

Brook Lopez carrying heavy burden for Bucks           

Brook Lopez will celebrate his 37th birthday on April 1, but he has looked like the spry center that made an all-star in 2012-13 over his last 10 games.

Never one to complain, Lopez has embraced the increased responsibility on both ends of the court – even if Rivers is not thrilled that he has been forced to lean so heavily on the veteran big man.

Heading into Friday’s game he’s logged 34.8 minutes per game and is averaging 17.9 points, 5.4 rebounds and 1.3 blocks while shooting a blistering 64.9% overall and 44.4% from behind the three-point line.

While the Bucks have leaned on him as a primary scorer the last few games due to the absences of Damian Lillard and Giannis Antetokounmpo, Lopez has been an offensive force since the trade deadline. In the 23 games prior to scoring just seven points against the Knicks, Lopez averaged 14.9 points per game on 37.6% three-point shooting (and 56% overall) since Feb. 7.

He scored at least 20 points seven times since the roster was reimagined after reaching that number eight times in his first 48 games of the year.

In the loss against the Knicks, however, Lopez attempted just two shots in the first half and finished 3-for-5 overall in 34 minutes. Doc Rivers said those were too few for the big man.

“I thought two or three of his shots were tough shots,” Rivers added. “I say this — we still shot 55% — so if we take care of the ball, but because we went in these stretches forcing (shots), that’s when the turnovers came, and if we had moved, made the simple movement plays, then Brook or someone else would’ve got more shots.”

Lopez also tied his season high with six assists while pulling down five rebounds and two blocked shots.

AJ Green injured late in loss

With 1:43 to go in the game, Bucks guard AJ Green took a hard hit to his right (shooting) shoulder while playing defense — hard enough that it not only sent him to the court, but he couldn’t get up right away as play continued. The Bucks called timeout to stop play, and he went right to the locker room.

“I think it’s an AC (joint) sprain, but I think he’s OK,” Doc Rivers said. “But I don’t know that.”

Green played 26 minutes and was 3-for-6 overall and 2-for-5 from behind the three-point line for eight points.

Kyle Kuzma bounces back in loss

Bucks forward Kyle Kuzma has struggled with his shot all season long, but did have his most efficient game in over a week by going 8 for 16 against the Knicks in scoring 20 points. He began the game aggressively, making the first two shots of the game and scoring the first six points of the contest for the Bucks.

“I got like six points easy, out early, and then just through the game, in the flow of the game, got a couple rebounds, and then third quarter when we made that little run Doc made an effort to get me going, some pick-and-rolls, getting downhill,” Kuzma said. “We just gotta figure out, keep continuing to figure out ways to do that and not just in stretches but the entire game.

“I’m very confident in myself, I know that I can make it easy on my teammates and also put the ball in the hole. It’s something I’ve done in my career. We’re figuring it out slowly but we don’t have that much time, so we gotta figure it out quicker.”

The 29-year-old came into the game making just 29.1% of his three-pointers since joining the Bucks and is shooting just 42.4% overall in averaging 13.9 points and 6.5 rebounds per game. It continues a season-long slump that has him tracking toward a career-worst three-point performance (28.5% overall in Washington and Milwaukee). He is also shooting a career-worst 63.5% from the free throw line this season.

Rivers has maintained the team needs to find better ways to use Kuzma in the offense but has said the mounting injuries across the team’s front line has made that difficult as Kuzma is now being asked to play small and power forward, and perhaps some center.

“We still have to get to it,” Rivers said before the game. “And we have to get better at it. And I have to put him in better spots and I haven’t done that yet.”

He also said he didn’t want to force the issue but acknowledged that, “With Dame out, it got pushed to the front where were not in a hurry at all before. And the tough part is like, we got in at 3 o’clock in the morning (Thursday) so (Friday) we literally worked on zero. So, it’s another day of not doing something where we could at least start working on stuff.”

Tyler Kolek helps Knicks win in return to Fiserv Forum

Knicks rookie point guard Tyler Kolek played his first game as a professional at Fiserv Forum, his former home court as a member of the Marquette University team from 2021-24 where he was a two-time All-American and the 2022-23 Big East Player of the Year.

The 24-year-old was passed over twice by the Bucks in the draft before he was selected No. 34 by the Knicks. He came into the game Friday having appeared in just six minutes per game over 36 appearances, but over his last three games he averaged 8.0 assists in about 19 minutes of action.

Against the Bucks, Kolek came off the bench to dish out five assists in 17 minutes when the regulars were in the game. He also scored five points.

5 numbers

• 0: Wins for the Bucks against Cleveland (0-4), Boston (0-3) and New York (0-3), the top three seeds in the Eastern Conference.
• Doc Rivers: “(The Knicks have) beaten us three times. Today was the closest of the group, but all three times the DNA of the game looked the same to me. They were way more physical. And, you know, after three times they believe that now. And so, we’re going to have to try to change that somehow if we see them again.”
• Giannis Antetokounmpo: “Now I’m not going to think about what happened in December when we lost from the Knicks or we lost from, I don’t know, Boston. It doesn’t really matter. When you get in the playoffs, anything can happen. If you’re locked in and you play together for 48 minutes, anything can happen. And I’ve been a part of that. Many times.”
• 3: No-look passes the Bucks tried, two of which easily stolen by the Knicks and resulted in four Knicks points. The third was corralled but led to a turnover moments after and led to two Knicks free throws.
• 4: Games in the next nine that Giannis Antetokounmpo must play in to be eligible for season-ending awards, such as MVP and all-NBA. The NBA Cup final counts toward his season games played total, but not his individual stats. His 19-minute effort against Washington on Feb. 21 also counts, as players are allowed to play two games of fewer than 20 minutes. Antetokounmpo has made eight straight all-NBA teams and only 32 players have made at least nine all-time.
• 12: Season-high point total for Knicks guard Delon Wright, who started in place of the injured Jalen Brunson and Cameron Payne. Wright actually set his season-best in the first quarter alone, scoring 10 points on 4 of 6 shooting. In his 26 games with the Bucks before being traded to the Knicks, Wright attempted more than six shots just once.
• 65: Points the Knicks outscored the Bucks by in three games this season.

Is Giannis playing?

Yes. Bucks head coach Doc Rivers initially said Giannis Antetokounmpo would be a game time decision, as he began the day questionable to play with a sprained left foot. He finished the game in Phoenix but missed Wednesday’s game in Denver. He had played 18 straight games out of the all-star break, averaging 26.8 points and 11.6 rebounds per game.

“The way I look at it, if they allow him to play then they obviously don’t think it’s something that’s going to further (injure),” Rivers said before the game. “If they thought it was something that was going to linger on, they would say he’s not playing. That’s what I would say. That’s what you want me to say.”

While the Bucks are obviously not a better team without Antetokounmpo, Rivers did say there is value in seeing player combinations that don’t include him — particularly since Damian Lillard is out indefinitely.

“Obviously I would rather Giannis play tonight, but in the games that he doesn’t or games that he misses, we get a look at how we can play when Giannis is off the floor. So that’s going to be important for us.”

Jalen Brunson out for the Knicks

New York will also be missing a star player, as point guard Jalen Brunson has been sidelined since spraining an ankle on March 6. The all-star is progressing, and he appears on track for a full recovery in time for the playoffs. The Bucks haven’t had much of an answer for Brunson since he arrived in New York, and the point guard had a 15-point, 9-assist effort in the Knicks win on Nov. 8 and a 44-point, 6-assist game on Jan. 12.

What time is the Bucks game?

The game vs. the Knicks will tip off at 7 p.m.

What channel are the Bucks on?

The game will be broadcast locally by FanDuel Sports Network Wisconsin with Lisa Byington, Steve Novak and Melanie Ricks on the call.

Bucks injury report

• Bobby Portis Jr., out (league suspension)
• Jericho Sims, out (right thumb surgery)
• Damian Lillard, out (right calf deep vein thrombosis)
• Giannis Antetokounmpo, questionable (left foot sprain)

Bucks starting lineup

• Guards: Ryan Rollins, Taurean Prince
• Forwards: Giannis Antetokounmpo, Kyle Kuzma
• Center: Brook Lopez

Bucks vs. Knicks odds, over/under

New York is a 1.5-point favorite over Milwaukee and the over/under is set at 217.5 points, per BetMGM.

Eastern Conference playoff standings

Heading into Friday night’s games, here is what the Eastern Conference playoff standings look like:

1. Cleveland (59-14)
2. Boston (54-19)
3. New York (45-27)
4. Indiana (43-30)
5. Detroit (41-32)
6. Milwaukee (40-32)
7. Atlanta (35-38)
8. Orlando (35-39)
9. Chicago (33-40)
10. Miami (32-41)

Eastern Conference playoff bracket

Heading into Friday night’s games, here is what the East playoff bracket looks like:

No. 1 Cleveland vs. No. 8. play-in winnerNo. 2 Boston vs. No. 7 play-in winnerNo. 3 New York vs. No. 6 MilwaukeeNo. 4 Indiana vs. No. 5 Detroit