Knicks 130, Bucks 110: No comeback this time, just a loss to low-level competition with a hot hand
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For the second time in three games – with both instances coming on the road – the Milwaukee Bucks found themselves facing a large, fourth-quarter double-digit deficit. Unlike the opener at Boston, however, when Milwaukee took on a talented Celtics team considered an Eastern Conference contender, the Bucks trailed the banged-up and rebuilding New York Knicks by 21 after three quarters Sunday night at Madison Square Garden.
And unlike the opener, which saw Bucks come back from 17 and eventually take a lead, the Knicks extended their margin to as many as 28 with the starters on the floor and eventually won, 130-110.
The Knicks, who suited up just 12 players due to injuries and played just nine when the game mattered, took it to the Bucks from the beginning of the game by seemingly taking everything the Bucks gave them defensively.
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“They shot it at an extremely high level,” Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer said. “They were probably too clean, too free, too many makes. They had a great night shooting and we probably gotta be a lot better defensively.”
BOX SCORE: Knicks 130, Bucks 110
With some combination of the Bucks starters on the court, the Knicks took a 113-87 lead deep into the fourth quarter and shot 58.6% from the floor (41 for 70) and 62.5% from three-point range (15 of 24).
And, led by Alec Burks (18 points) and the unlikely shooting from Frank Ntilikina (12 points), the Knicks got 30 points from those two off the bench – which topped the Bucks entire bench output when the regular rotation had played.
Ntilikina, a fourth-year backup point guard, took all of two three-pointers in the first two games. On Sunday, he went 4 for 4 from distance.
That unlikely showing was indicative the entire night for the Knicks, as the Bucks (1-2) never seemed to make any of the hosts uncomfortable on offense.
Starting Knicks point guard Elfrid Payton, who came in shooting 23%, scored 27 points on 12-of-16 shooting including 3 three-pointers. Julius Randle scored 29 points and R.J. Barrett added 17.
“They got them in a lot of different situations and they probably had some where they were clean and too open and then they hit some tough ones,” Budenholzer said of the Knicks. “They kind of did everything and we need to look at that. There’s opportunities for us to grow and be better guarding the three-point line, guarding those guys in general. Fifty-nine percent, 130 points is just, under any circumstance, that’s not good.”
Conversely, the Bucks’ best offense was when they got off and running and finishing at the rim – but they had a frosty touch from the floor otherwise.
When the starters were on the floor, Milwaukee made just five of their 35 three-point attempts (14.3%) and shot 39.5%. Giannis Antetokounmpo led the team with 27 points and 13 rebounds and Khris Middleton scored 22. But until Bobby Portis (17 points) scored a handful of points late, Donte DiVincenzo (10 points) was the only other Bucks player to reach double digits.
“At some point you have to make some shots,” Budenholzer said flatly.
The tone was set in the first half, when the Knicks took a 61-45 lead and really never looked back.
Milwaukee shot just 3 of 19 (15.8%) from distance while on the other side the Knicks came out with a bit of sizzle on their fingers. The Knicks shot 57.1% from beyond the three-point line and 47.6% overall as they had four players reach double figures in the first 24 minutes.
Middleton continued his hot start to the season for the Bucks by scoring 16 points on 6-of-11 shooting in the first half, and he was joined by Antetokounmpo in double digits with 10. Jrue Holiday had eight, but outside of that the Bucks struggled to get much going outside of their top three playmakers. Fellow starters Brook Lopez and DiVincenzo combined for four points while the bench contributed just seven points on 3-of-13 shooting, including 1-for-8 from three.
Unfortunately for the Bucks, Holiday didn’t score again while making just four shots on the night, and Lopez scored just six for the game.
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Knicks 130, Bucks 110: No comeback this time, just a loss to low-level competition with a hot hand