Winning the franchise's first Atlantic Division title since 1994 last season, the New York Knicks hope their recent success continues throughout the 2013-2014 NBA season. Set to open their respective campaign at Madison Square Garden against the Milwaukee Bucks, the Knicks will look to follow through with the high expectations that have been set since the arrival of defending NBA scoring champion Carmelo Anthony. Anthony joined the Knicks in 2011 and once again set to guide a talented roster, the 29-year-old Brooklyn native and his head coach Mike Woodson hope they're able to help the team surpass last season's accomplishments that included a 54-win regular season, Atlantic Division championship and first round playoff victory. Part of the early success according to Woodson will also focus around Carmelo Anthony returning to the power forward position.
"I truly want to build on what we did last year," Woodson said. "I mean, last year is last year, but it was a good season for our ball club and our fans here in New York. The ultimate goal is to win a title and it starts tomorrow night in terms of how we step on the floor and how we play. 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. 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."
While the Knicks certainly have reason to be excited about the upcoming season - with the additions of Metta World Peace and former Toronto Raptors standout Andrea Bargnani expected to help - New York's season opening opponent, the Milwaukee Bucks, hope they're able to overcome multiple injuries they'll be forced to deal with throughout the early portion of the season.
Opening their respective campaign with injuries to Carlos Delfino (right foot), Ekpe Udoh (right knee) and starting power forward Ersan Ilyasova (ankle), Bucks first-year head coach Larry Drew says his team will just have to be prepared at a high level each time out.
"It's not easy," Drew said of the multiple injuries hindering the Bucks' ability to fully prepare for the season. "I was hoping we'd have everybody going through training camp because it's a process, a process of me teaching and them learning."
New York Knicks vs. Milwaukee Bucks: DATE, TIME & TV INFO
DATE: Wednesday, October 30
TIME: 7:30pm, ET
TV COVERAGE: MSG Network (New York area), FSN Wisconsin (Milwaukee area)
LIVE STREAM: CLICK HERE
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