Knicks beat Bucks after losing first three matchups of season
Jalen Brunson of the NY Knicks with the ball is guarded by Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks at Madison Square Garden on Christmas Day, Mo., Dec. 25, 2023. Credit: Errol Anderson
The real tests for the Knicks against the Eastern Conference’s elite will not come until spring, when the likes of the Bucks and Celtics figure to be blocking their path to the NBA Finals.
But on Monday, they at least made a short-term statement that they might not be the easy playoff out they appeared to be while starting 0-6 against Milwaukee and Boston — going 0-3 against each.
They beat the Bucks, 129-122, in a Christmas Day matinee at Madison Square Garden, recovering from a 130-111 loss to the same team on the same floor on Saturday.
Jalen Brunson said the victory meant “a lot, just because obviously we struggled against this team throughout this year. So the fact we came up with a win today, it’s special.”
Brunson was the most special Knick on an afternoon full of varied contributions as the Knicks (17-12) ended the Bucks’ winning streak at seven games. Milwaukee had beaten the Knicks nine straight times.
Brunson scored 38 points and had six assists, four rebounds and not a single turnover. He was one of four 20-point scorers, joining Julius Randle (24), RJ Barrett (21) and Immanuel Quickley (20 off the bench).
Add a key 10-point contribution from Josh Hart when the game was in doubt and the defensive efforts of centers Isaiah Hartenstein and Taj Gibson, and the Knicks finally could feel good about themselves against a conference favorite.
Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard led the Bucks (22-8) with 32 points apiece and Khris Middleton scored 24. Antetokounmpo added 13 rebounds and six assists and Lillard had eight assists.
But the high-powered Bucks shot sporadically and never quite overcame an early Knicks surge to a 12-point lead in the first quarter.
“I liked the way we had a lead and no matter how much they cut the lead down, we stayed poised and figured out a way to keep it,” Brunson said.
Said Quickley, “Just kind of accepting that challenge that we hadn’t got them yet. It’s been a while, so this was a good one to get.”
Playing a team of the Bucks’ caliber four times before New Year’s was a tall task for the Knicks. But Monday also was a strange moment for the Bucks, who spent Christmas weekend in New York.
Asked about the challenge of beating a team twice in three days, Lillard said, “It’s tough, especially being on the road. Playing a team twice in such a short amount of time. The holidays. They came out and played like they had practice. They played faster. They played with a lot of energy.”
The Knicks led 119-103 with just over five minutes left, but the Bucks got within 124-118 with 1:31 left on a putback by Bobby Portis.
Brunson answered with a driving floater 20 seconds later and the Knicks held on in the final minute.
It was that sort of afternoon, with the Knicks on several occasions seeming to be on the verge of pulling away but being unable to do so.
Brunson (15) and Barrett (14) totaled 29 of the Knicks’ first 34 points, and they led 36-27 after one quarter.
It was 65-51 after Hartenstein scored the Knicks’ first seven points of the third quarter, but he left soon thereafter upon committing his fourth personal foul.
Gibson played capable defense in his stead, but when Pat Connaughton made a three-pointer with 5:17 left in the third, it was 77-73. The Knicks were in trouble.
Brunson’s three-point play restored a seven-point lead for the Knicks, and when the third quarter ended, the Knicks led 98-87, helped by six quick points from Hart.
The Knicks sought to push the pace all day against the bigger Bucks.
“They have two 7-footers on the floor [in Brook Lopez and Antetokounmpo],” coach Tom Thibodeau said, “so you’ve got to try to get them before they get set, and if they do get set, then you’ve got to move them.”
The Knicks still are 1-3 against the Bucks, which does not bode well for a potential playoff meeting come April or May. But for one day, anything seemed possible.
“We lost to them three times already,” Barrett said, “so to come in today on Christmas to get this one feels extra sweet.”
Neil Best first worked at Newsday in 1982, returned in 1985 after a detour to Alaska and has been here since, specializing in high schools, college basketball, the NFL and most recently sports media and business.
