Knicks showcase inconsistency woes in streak-busting loss to Bucks
As the Knicks hit the midway point of their season Monday night, they paid tribute to their first half by going hot and cold across 48 minutes.
That meant taking a 17-point lead by the third quarter before watching it slip away by the opening minutes of the fourth.
Jrue Holiday then delivered a pair of daggers in the final minute, sinking a 3-pointer and another long jumper to help lift the Bucks to a 111-107 win at the Garden.
“I saw a championship team just kind of grind us down, chipping away,” Jalen Brunson said on a night when his career-high 44 points were not enough. “We didn’t hold up enough resistance to get that lead. Got to give them credit. We’ve got to be better, but you’ve got to give them credit as well.”
In their first loss since Dec. 29, the Knicks (22-19) hit the halfway point of the season on a down note after their previous 17 games featured an eight-game winning streak followed by a five-game losing streak followed by a four-game winning streak.
After the Knicks led by as many as 17 points in the third quarter, the Bucks (26-14) made a run to get within five entering the fourth. Then they needed just 2:34 to take the lead, draining three straight 3-pointers to pull ahead 82-81 — their first lead since the 9:47 mark of the second quarter.
The teams mostly traded buckets for the next eight minutes, with the game tied at 97 with two minutes left before Holiday left his mark. He scored 10 points in the final 2:23, including a 3-pointer that put the Bucks up 103-99 with 47.1 seconds left and a contested jumper that extended the lead to 105-101 with 29.1 seconds to go.
“We didn’t close [the third quarter] out and we gave them life,” said Julius Randle, who registered 25 points and 16 rebounds but shot just 1-for-12 from deep. “A team like that with championship experience, you don’t want to do that. Learning experience for us, for sure. Coach always says play tough with the lead and learning experience and we’ll do better.”
Randle and Mitchell Robinson somewhat held Giannis Antetokounmpo in check with 22 points and 10 rebounds, but Holiday played the role of closer effectively.
The Knicks missed their first seven shots from the floor and fell behind 10-2. But they got an early gift as Holiday, the Bucks’ defensive stalwart, picked up his third foul just 4:28 into the game, sending him to the bench.
Brunson quickly put the Knicks on his back. The point guard poured in 18 of the Knicks’ 22 points in the first quarter, allowing them to head into the second tied 22-22.
They did so despite recording zero assists through the first 12 minutes and Randle — who had mostly been crushing first quarters of late — shooting just 1-for-12 from the field, including 0-for-8 from beyond the arc.
Immanuel Quickley (23 points) then took the baton from Brunson in the second quarter, scoring the Knicks’ first six points and going on to drop 13 points in the quarter. He bookended a 7-1 run with a 3-pointer and a pair of free throws that helped the Knicks create some separation before going into halftime up 51-46.
In the third quarter, Quickley scored five straight points to spark a 13-1 run as the Knicks opened up a 70-53 lead.
But the Bucks made a charge back into the game to close out the third quarter, using 12-3 run to pull within 78-73 heading to the fourth, where they closed out the win.
“Obviously they have one of the best players to play this game in Giannis and Jrue just being clutch as he is, they just wouldn’t go away,” Brunson said. “You’ve got to give them credit. They used their experience against us.”
