Tonight at 7:00 p.m. ET, the Milwaukee Bucks and New York Knicks tip off their 2013-14 NBA seasons live from Madison Square Garden in New York City. The game can be live streamed here. Milwaukee fans can hear all the action by tuning into 620 WTMJ while New York fans can do the same on WEPN 98.7.
The Bucks are coming off of a season where they went 38-44 but were swept out of the first round of the playoffs by the Miami Heat while the Knicks enter 2013-14 after finishing first in the Atlantic Division and second overall in the Eastern Conference before falling to the Indiana Pacers in six games in the second round of the postseason.
"Last year is over in my mind," Carmelo Anthony told ESPN Tuesday. "We accomplished what we accomplished last year. This is a new season for me, for us, and we're ready to go out there and play."
Anthony will put his impending free agency on hold as he looks to try and help lead New York to a championship. The Knicks quest will begin without J.R. Smith, who will be serving a five-game drug suspension.
Knicks coach Mike Woodson said Tuesday he hadn't fully decided on the lineup and whether or not to put Anthony at the power forward spot.
"We've been successful here with Melo playing a lot of 4 and we haven't experimented a whole lot with him playing 3 until this exhibition season," Woodson said via ESPN, "and so I mean I just feel like I don't want to go away from it a lot in terms of him playing at the 4 spot."
Anthony played with newcomer Andrea Bargnani in the preseason and he may slide Metta World Peace into the lineup tonight.
The Bucks enter their first season under Larry Drew and are hoping to avoid dropping a sixth-straight decision to the Knicks. It won't be easy, as Milwaukee enters play banged up.
"It's not easy," said Drew, who came to Milwaukee after reaching the playoffs three-straight seasons in Atlanta, according to ESPN. "I was hoping we'd have everybody going through training camp because it's a process, a process of me teaching and them learning."
The Bucks will most likely be without power forward Ersan Ilyasova (ankle) and backup big man Ekpe Udoh (right knee) while swingman Carlos Delfino(foot) should also be sidelined. Ilyasova averaged 13.2 points and 7.1 rebounds last season.
The Bucks will look to avoid a sixth-straight defeat at the hands of the Knicks while New York looks to overcome its lineups missing pieces to open up strongly at home when tip off happens tonight at Madison Square Garden.
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