Knicks stifled by Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Bucks

MILWAUKEE — The numbers would tell you that the Knicks’ game against the Bucks on Friday night was a classic battle of immovable object versus unstoppable force — or at least elite defense against potent offense.

While Giannis Antetokounmpo’s scoring outbursts may overshadow it, the Bucks’ stifling defense is what really has carried them as the only unbeaten team left in the NBA. And the Knicks were not about to be the team to change either the unbeaten part or the defensive reputation.

They fought to make a game of it, but it never seemed as if they had a chance as they fell, 119-108, at Fiserv Forum, putting an end to their own three-game winning streak.

The Bucks entered the game as the only team surrendering less than 100 points per game, and the Knicks topped that as they fought back from a 24-point deficit. But even if it looked better in the boxscore, they didn’t draw within single digits until the game’s final two minutes after the Bucks ran them off the court for much of the third quarter.

“The game was over with. Sorry,’’ Derrick Rose said. “We’ve got to come out with urgency a lot better early on in the game . . . We didn’t rebound the ball well. We didn’t communicate.”

Up six at the half and leading 72-66 with just over seven minutes left in the third quarter, the Bucks hit the Knicks with an 18-0 flurry in a 2:34 span to push the lead to 90-66. The Knicks managed to pull within 96-85 entering the fourth quarter.

“We started out really slow. A lot of that’s on me,’’ Jalen Brunson said. “I’ve got to do a better job with just coming out and attacking, being who I am. I take full credit for that. I’ve got to come out with the intensity and tenacity like I usually do. We were just playing behind, catch-up, all game long.”

Antetokounmpo carried the load, piling up 30 points, 14 rebounds and nine assists. But it was the defense that kept the Knicks from ever threatening.

The Knicks entered the game with the league’s eighth-ranked offense and hoped to use this game as a measuring stick. If it was that, it put on display that they are far from the elite squads in the Eastern Conference.

“We feel like if we stick to who we are, play how we play, play unselfish, play fast, get out and run, we feel like it’s a formula for success against any defense,” Julius Randle said after the morning shootaround. “ . . . Any time we can go on the road and compete against the best teams in the league, teams that have championship aspirations, we can see how we stack up against them. It’s always fun. Definitely, our team is looking forward to the challenge.”

But what they may have imagined in the film room and on the practice floor proved harder to execute in reality.

Randle had 14 points and shot 3-for-10 from the field. RJ Barrett (20 points) started 3-for-11 before hitting six straight shots after the game was out of reach. Brunson, who has been their most reliable player, shot 3-for-10.

The Knicks struggled offensively and with foul trouble, shooting just 37.5% from the floor and 23.8% from three-point range in the first half, but they still managed to hang close as the Bucks shot just as poorly. Only Antetokounmpo did damage with 18 points and 7-for-11 shooting.

With the Knicks trailing 59-51 with 1.7 seconds left, Barrett hit the first of two free throws. He missed the second, but a loose-ball foul on Serge Ibaka gave Randle two free throws with the clock not moving. He missed the first but made the second.

Antetokounmpo tried to fire a long pass as he inbounded with 1.4 seconds left, but Brunson intercepted it and tossed up a 52-foot heave that swished through cleanly and was ruled good on the court. A replay review determined the shot came after time expired and the Knicks trailed 59-53 at the break.

By Steve Popper

steve.popper@newsday.com@StevePopper

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.