The Knicks played their most complete game of the season, suffocating the Bucks with their defense and all five starters scored in double figures as New York won 116-94 on Friday night at Madison Square Garden.
Karl-Anthony Towns had a game-high 32 points while Jalen Brunson had nine of the Knicks’ 35 assists, a season-high.
Here are the takeaways…
-The Knicks were dominating the paint early in this one. The big men put up layups and dunks, sometimes with ease, while the guards cut toward the basket and made their mid-range jumpers. The Knicks had 14 points in the paint in the opening frame and were plus-four on the boards. Towns was the highlight of the first quarter, putting up 13 points — the only player in double digits after one — and dunked on Bucks center Brook Lopez to get the Garden crowd on their feet.
Just because the Knicks dominated the paint doesn’t mean they shied away from the three-point shot. New York wasn’t efficient with their shot but went 12-for-39 from long range. They also kept Milwaukee from putting up threes. The Bucks were just 6-of-24 from three and Damian Lillard was 0-for-4 from deep including two air balls.
-KAT led the charge in Knicks scoring once again, scoring 27 points on 10-of-16 shooting (4-6 from three) with seven rebounds in the first half. The Bucks had no answer for him beyond the arc or when he was fed in the paint especially with Lopez guarding him, which Milwaukee continued to throw the veteran center at him.
Milwaukee finally figured out Lopez couldn’t guard Towns and put Giannis Antetokounmpo on him. The added athleticism of the two-time MVP helped the Bucks contain Towns a bit. That combined with some foul trouble kept Towns from putting up monstrous numbers but he still did well for himself. The first-year Knick scored 32 points on 12-of-20 shooting (4-8 from three) with 11 rebounds and five assists.
-Brunson started the night 0-for-5 from the field and didn’t pick up his first basket until 5:25 left in the second quarter. Despite not having his shot, the guard kept making winning plays, whether it was feeding Towns in the first half or finding the open man. Despite his poor shooting, Brunson still scored 15 points but did it with his passing, dishing nine assists.
–Jericho Sims had arguably his best minutes of the season. He was physical and came down with three boards (all offensive) and even put up a dunk. Sims was a part of an impressive Knicks bench that combined to score 27 points, led by Miles McBride‘s 14 points. With the Bucks throwing in the towel with eight minutes remaining (!), that allowed Matt Ryan to see some time. The sharpshooter went 1-for-2 — both shots from three — in his six minutes of play.
–OG Anunoby found himself in foul trouble in the first half and only played 15 minutes but he clamped down on Giannis who had 12 points at the half on 5-of-11 shooting. Antetokounmpo finished with 24 points on 11-of-21 shooting. His assignment was switched to Lillard in the second half and still played great defense against another prolific shooting. Lillard scored 19 points on 6-of-15 shooting with the combination of Anunoby and Mikal Bridges on him.
Game MVP: Jalen Brunson
Although Towns was the offensive star but Brunson was the steady force of this win. When Towns was on the bench with foul trouble, the offense kept humming along.
Highlights
What’s next
The Knicks hit the road again, this time they go to Indiana to take on the Pacers. Tip is set for Sunday at 5 p.m.
