Knicks beat Bucks after losing first three matchups of season

The real tests for the Knicks against the Eastern Conference’s elite will not come until spring, but on Monday they at least made a temporary statement.

After losing their first six games of the season against the Bucks and Celtics – three against each – the Knicks defeated the Bucks, 129-122, at Madison Square Garden in a Christmas Day matinee. 

It was a satisfying, nationally-televised result, especially after a 130-111 loss to the same team on the same floor on Saturday.

Jalen Brunson led the Knicks (17-12) with 38 points and Julius Randle scored 24. Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 32 points for Milwaukee (22-8). Damian Lillard also had 32.

The Knicks led, 98-87, entering the fourth quarter. The Bucks, one of the NBA’s best offensive teams, struggled with their shots all game. 

When Josh Hart, who had a big second half, scored with 9:32 left, it was 106-92. Immanuel Quickley’s three made it 111-96. The Bucks later got within 124-118 with 1:30 left, but Brunson scored to restore an eight-point lead.

Barrett scored 14 of the first 22 points for the Knicks. Then, with Barrett taking a rest, Brunson took over, leading the Knicks to a 36-24 lead late in the first quarter, which ended with the Knicks leading, 36-27.

Brunson (15) and Barrett combined to score 29 of the Knicks’ first 34 points, shooting a combined 13-for-20 from the floor.

The Knicks’ lead grew to 13 on two occasions early in the second quarter. But an 8-0 run by Milwaukee cut the margin to 43-38.

Brook Lopez’s three-pointer later made it 56-51, but Brunson and Randle answered with back-to-back three-pointers, and it was 62-51 at halftime.

Brunson scored 20 points and Barrett 18 in the game’s first 24 minutes.

The Knicks held Antetokounmpo to nine first half points and 4-for-10 shooting from the field and 1-for-4 from the free-throw line.

The second half began with Isaiah Hartenstein completing a three-point play that gave the Knicks a 65-51 lead, their largest yet.

Hartenstein scored the Knicks’ first seven points of the third quarter, but he left soon thereafter upon committing his fourth personal foul.

The Bucks chipped away through the third quarter, and when Pat Connaughton made a three-pointer with 5:17 left, it was 77-73, and the Knicks were in trouble.

Brunson’s three-point play quickly restored a seven-point lead for the Knicks, and when the third quarter ended, the Knicks led, 98-87.

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.