Photo: Special to the NY Beacon
It was an intense match where either team could have won, but the New York Knicks lost control of the game in the last minute and came up short in the 109-103 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden.
New York missed shots and made mistakes in that last minute when they could have gained the upper hand. The Bucks leading scorer Giannis Antetokounmpo fouled out with .57.1 and the Knicks went to the line twice in the last minute, but it wasn’t enough to alter the outcome of the game.
“I want to look at the film to see what we did at the end so I know exactly what we did,” Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau said about the game.
He said that includes evaluating whether they did everything to create a shot.
The Knicks started strong and had the lead up until about halfway through the first quarter when Antetokounmpo went to the line and tied the score at 11. New York stayed aggressive in defending Antetokounmpo, sending him to the line a second time in the quarter. He made 9 of 12 free throws in the game.
“He’s powerful,” said Thibodeau said about defending Antetokounmpo. “He’s fast. He generates speed.”
New York played competitively, but the Bucks did not allow any lead for too long. Knicks were behind 47-45 at halftime. RJ Barrett then led with 15 points. New York managed to gain a 58-57 lead about half way through the third quarter, but entered the fourth quarter behind 74-71.
Mitchell Robinson had the opportunity to tie the score after he was fouled by Antetokounmpo when about a minute remained in the game, but he made the first and missed his second shot. It was determined Antetokounmpo fouled out the game after review of the play.
Jalen Brunson then was fouled and New York had the opportunity to take the lead, but he missed the first shot, made the second shot and tied the score at 103.
Grayson Allen then hit a 3-pointer that changed the pace of the game. The Bucks then powered through until the end. Antetokounmpo led the Bucks with 37pts, 13 rebounds & 7 assists.
“We just have to do a better job boxing out,” he said about defending the Knicks. “When you’re a center and you’re trying to defend the pick and roll, guys that are effective like [RJ] Barrett or [Jalen] Brunson coming down left, it’s kind of hard.”
Barrett scored a team-high 26 total points for the Knicks. Julius Randle added 18 points and Brunson added 17 points. Mitchell Robinson had 15 points total and led the team with 20 total rebounds.
“I think that he’s put a lot of extra time in,” Thibodeau said about Robinson. “He’s gotten better.”
It was a great effort as New York competed with Milwaukee who are currently in second place in the NBA East Conference. However, the Knicks need an extra push as this is the fourth recent home game the team has lost.
“It is not fun, it is frustrating, and no one likes it, but to keep getting better and learning from these situations is important,” Barrett said.
New York host their next 3 games beginning Saturday against Dallas, Sunday versus Cleveland and then taking on the Hawks and Trae Young Wednesday night.
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