Giannis Antetokounmpo was on the road with the Milwaukee Bucks in New York and celebrated an unchallenged 130:111 victory over the Knicks at Madison Square Garden.
Antetokounmpo also played a big part in the success with 28 points, seven assists and just as many rebounds – incidentally, it was the Bucks’ seventh win in a row. The Greek was supported by shooting forward Khris Middleton, who scored 20 points. The Bucks were convincing across the board, played at a high tempo and shone with strong shooting percentages (52.7 percent from the field and 50 percent from outside).
The visitors quickly built up a comfortable lead and ensured things were clear early on with an 11:0 run in the fourth quarter to make it 114:92 at one stage. Build-up player Damian Lillard had 19 points, nine rebounds and seven assists, while shooting guard Malik Beasley (19 points) drained five threes.
The Knicks, who made just nine of 29 threes from outside and also had a weaker percentage from the field than the visitors (41/93, 44.1 percent), were not helped by a brilliant Jalen Brunson (36 points), lost to Milwaukee for the ninth time in a row and will have to think about something as quickly as possible if they do not want it to be another one-sided affair when they meet the Bucks in the Christmas Game on Monday (6 p.m. CET).
Alongside Brunson, power forward Julius Randle (26 points) also put in a good performance, while German center Isiah Hartenstein chalked up 12 points and 13 rebounds – and that in 33 minutes of play, with only Randle (34) and point guard Brunson (37) on court for longer.
The win put the 2021 champions ahead in the race for first place in the Eastern Conference and put pressure on the Boston Celtics.