The Milwaukee Bucks remained competitive for a quarter before losing to the New York Knicks 140-106. Jalen Brunson paced the Bucks with 44 points and Karl-Anthony Towns scored 30 points. Giannis and Dame combined for just 46 points.

NBA.com Box Score

Game review

The Bucks had some nice combinations early on: a classic Dame and Giannis and a not-quite-classic Prince and Ajax. But the Knicks sank a few three-pointers and Jalen Brunson caused problems for Ajax, who picked up three fouls early on. However, a 7-0 run by the Lady put the Bucks back in the lead before both teams remained neck and neck on offense (though the defense was reasonably good), with Giannis causing havoc at the rim. Brunson also sent AJG to the bench, giving us 2025 pat minutes, but the refs swallowed their whistles the rest of the field (though largely to the Bucks’ detriment). JB finished with 23 (!) in the quarter and 12 straight Knicks points as they closed at 36-33.

Without Giannis and Brunson in the second round, the Knicks had a slight advantage due to a solid KAT (Bobby was NOT the answer) and lackluster defense from the Bucks (particularly on corner closeouts). Plus MarJon rotation minutes! On the other hand, Bobby partially made up for it, but a return play from deep by Cam Payne and a cold three-point shot for Milwaukee allowed New York to extend its lead. The Bucks didn’t let the Knicks get any further than the low teens, but they couldn’t get them back to single digits either, as the half ended 75-62 in favor of the home team.

Two sleepy but foul-free defensive attacks from Ajax led to Doc calling a timeout 52 seconds into the second half. Then it was déjà vu again: two possessions, this time two threes and another timeout, with the Knicks leading by 23 at 10:18. Shot. Oddly enough, however, they kept playing and, after a few challenge misfortunes, actually managed to get within 20 points of a “respectable” score. But they must have used their mess to prepare Old-Fashioneds for the flight home, because that’s where the mess stopped. (Coincidentally, Brunson was returning at this point after spending some time in the locker room.) 108-89 New York after three.

In the fourth quarter, the Milwaukee Bucks and New York Knicks played basketball for 12 minutes.

Statistics that stood out

A defensive rating of 147.6 per Cleaning the Glass isn’t the best day at the office.

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