Knicks defeat Bucks behind Jalen Brunson's 43 points
The Knicks' Jalen Brunson drives to the basket against the Bucks' Khris Middleton, left, during the first half of an NBA game Sunday in Milwaukee. Credit: AP/Aaron Gash
MILWAUKEE — The Knicks have admitted — even Tom Thibodeau has acknowledged it — that they are scoreboard-watching as the season winds down to the final few games.
But on Sunday night, the Knicks didn’t have to look at anything on the scoreboard other than the score of their own game against the Bucks, who hold the No. 2 spot in the Eastern Conference.
To gain ground, all the Knicks needed to do was take care of their own business, also a Thibodeau mantra.
After trailing by 11 at halftime, the Knicks beat Milwaukee, 122-109, at Fiserv Forum, outscoring the Bucks 72-48 in the second half.
The Knicks (46-32) moved into a tie for third place with Orlando and are one game behind Milwaukee (47-31) with four games to play. But the Bucks and Magic hold tiebreakers over the Knicks, who moved a half-game ahead of fifth-place Cleveland (46-33).
Jalen Brunson led the Knicks with 43 points and eight assists. It was his ninth game of at least 40 points this season, even though the Bucks tried to do whatever they could to get the ball out of his hands.
But in the second half, it was Donte DiVincenzo scoring 20 of his 26 points, Josh Hart filling up the boxscore, OG Anunoby clamping down on Giannis Antetokounmpo and Mitchell Robinson blocking a shot by Antetokounmpo into the stands.
And finally, with the Bucks still hanging around, Isaiah Hartenstein jumped in front of a pass for Antetokounmpo and deflected it, then dived across the floor to tap the ball to DiVincenzo, who found Bojan Bogdanovic for a fast-break layup.
“That’s huge,” Hart said. “Obviously, we know Zay’s [Hartenstein’s] limitations in terms of athleticism and speed and quickness and those kind of things, so for him to be able to dive and make one of those plays against — I think Dame [Lillard] was going after it, too. It was huge.”
“I just did what the team needed,” said Hartenstein, who had 18 points and 10 rebounds. “Just putting your body on the line. That’s kind of how I play. I don’t really care if I kind of go out there with bruises, it’s whatever the team needs. At that moment, that was a big possession. Any ball at the end of the clock I can get, I’ll go get it.”
The Bucks were back close to full strength with Antetokounmpo returning after missing Friday’s game with right hamstring tendinopathy, but they lost one of their main pieces midway through the second quarter.
DiVincenzo drove to the basket, and as he shot, he hit Khris Middleton in the face, knocking out a tooth. After heading to the locker room, Middleton was ruled out for the night with what the team called mouth trauma.
If the Knicks literally punched the Bucks in the mouth in the first half, they did it with their play in the second half.
Brunson did what he does, scoring 20 points after halftime, but it was the defense that suddenly became stifling and the hustle visibly turning the game.
“That’s our identity,” DiVincenzo said. “I think the games that we don’t do that are the games that we come in here disappointed. There are some games throughout the year that you do those things and they just have a better night offensively. But we like our chances when we do that stuff, we play defense the way that our identity is. When we do those things, we have a chance to win every single night.”
“When we have guys doing that and putting their body on the line, those are winning plays,” Brunson said. “And so it gave it a lot of momentum to make more plays down the stretch and found a way to win.”
Steve Popper covers the Knicks for Newsday. He has spent nearly three decades covering the Knicks and the NBA, along with just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
