Damian Lillard Unravels Plans to Cut Off Knicks’ “Head of the Snake,” to Advance NBA In-Season Tournament Semis

Milwaukee Bucks will face the New York Knicks in the ongoing In-Season tournament on Tuesday. As the tournament approaches the quarterfinal stage, the winner shall move to the semis for the NBA Cup. The Bucks will go into the Tuesday clash with an impressive 14-6 record in the season. On the other hand, the Knicks with a 12-7 record, will try to get confidence from their 10 wins from their last 13 games.

The two teams clashed earlier in the tournament with Bucks clinching the victory with 110-105 on November 3. But things could turn different as the tournament has progressed to the knockout stage and the game is likely to slow down. And Knicks with all the tricks up their sleeves will try to pounce like the wounded lions on Bucks. Damian Lillard recently shared his take as to what would it take for the Bucks to recreate the November 3 victory.

Damian Lillard’s ‘head of the snake’ strategy

Lillard opined that they need to get to control the ball and be cautious of Jalen Brunson. He said, “We gotta control the ball. Jalen Brunson is aggressive. He’s playing with a lot of confidence & he’s the head of the snake, so we gotta handle that.” Damian Lillard added that they need to stop everyone in the Knicks from getting effective. Critically analysing the last game he shared that Grimes could hit some 3s early. He also said that Brunson was able to breach the defenses along with others. Lillard felt that their players couldn’t tighten the Knicks enough in the previous clash.

Suggesting that his team needs to stop the penetration and be ‘sharp’ in ‘coverages’ Lillard said, “…take the challenge & protect the home court, just knowing what’s at stake: We gotta win this game & we move on.” The threat of Brunson looms large for the quarterfinal dreams of the Bucks. After all his on-court maneuvers have been destructive for the opponents for some time.

The aggression of Brunson that the Bucks fear

The Knicks are currently a top-notch defense in the NBA. In the defense ratings, the Knicks occupy the third spot. When it comes to the offense, Brunson comes to fill the vacuum for them, breathing fire against the opponents. In the last clash against the Bucks, Brunson scored a stunning 45 points with 56.7 shooting. He will be eagerly waiting to recreate the magic in the quarterfinals.

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His wave of aggression in his last 19 games saw him have six 30-point games and two 40 point games. And in the last eight games, Brunson scored 28 points on average with 4.8 rebounds and 6.8 assists.

How difficult will be the Brunson threat for the New York Knicks to bear? Let us know in the comments.

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