With all the new faces, the Knicks are a work in progress, but they gave you a taste of what could be when they start to mesh.
The Knicks led wire to wire and played their most complete game of the young season as they routed the struggling Bucks, 116-94 at Madison Square Garden last night.
“It’s a good, solid win,” Coach Tom Thibodeau said. “It’s improvement and that’s what we’re shooting for every day. Just keep getting better.”
The Knicks (4-4) played a like a cohesive unit on offense and the ball movement was superb as evidenced by a season high 35 assists on 43 made field goals.
After allowing 109 points to Houston and 121 to Atlanta in their previous two games, the Knicks picked up their game defensively. O.G. Anunoby did a solid job guarding Bucks star forward Giannis Antetokounmpo limiting him to a team high 24 points (11 for 21 but 0 for 1 from three). Damien Lillard added 19 but shot 6 for 15, including 0 for 4 from three.
He’s [Giannis] a great player so you try to make it as hard as possible,” Anunoby said. “You know he’s gonna score, he’s gonna do some amazing things. Just stay with it and try to help the team win.”
The Bucks (2-7) committed 12 turnovers and the Knicks took advantage scoring 21 points off of those mistakes.
In the previous two road games, the Knicks failed to finish in the fourth quarter but this time, Thibodeau had a rare luxury of resting most of his starters in the fourth quarter.
Karl Anthony Towns was a force with 32 points, 27 in the first half along with 11 rebounds and five assists. Towns hit his first three from beyond the arc and finished 4 for 8 from three point range.
For the season, the 7-footer is 20 of 36 from beyond the arc. Towns ability to shoot the three is starting to open up the floor for his teammates to take advantage of the free space.
Jalen Brunson did not have a big game scoring wise (15 points, 10 in the second half on 6 of 15 from the floor) but he did not turn the ball over and had 9 assists with six of those leading to Towns’ baskets. “Some nights you may not shoot well but there’s a lot of other things you can do in a game to help your team win,” said Thibodeau.
Brunson is being double teamed every time he goes into the paint, but with players like Towns and Mikal Bridges (17 points), the Knicks captain now has a few more options while creating open looks.
“Its gonna take time to be cohesive, like how we were at the end of the year last year,” said Brunson. “Kind of a different team so for us, we’ve got to continue to jell every single day and just keep learning.”
Miles McBride rebounded from a poor game against Atlanta with 14 points off the bench while Tyler Kolek gave the Knicks 16 solid minutes with 8 points including 2 of 4 from three.
Rebounding, particularly on the offensive end, had been a problem but not in this one. The Knicks putrebounded the Bucks,48-41 including 14 on offensive end and they had the edge in second chance points, 18-8.
Towns and the Knicks wanted to start fast and they did just that. The big man obliged by hitting his first three threes and finished with 13 first quarter points as the Knicks took a 32-25 lead after one.
“For sure, especially when you come home in front of these great fans here in the mecca, you want to come out strong and you want to be able to get the win for them,” Towns told MSG’s Alan Hahn on the court after the game.
The Knicks outscored the Bucks in the second quarter, 34-22 to grab a 66-47 lead at halftime.
Towns blew by the Bucks Brook Lopez for a slam dunk as the Knicks took a 38-29 lead. With a little over a minute left, Brunson found Towns for a driving lay up and a foul. After the free throw, the Knicks had 63-45 advantage.
Brunson and Towns are starting to develop a chemistry and that will only get better as the season goes on. “Makes the game very easy for everyone on the court, amazing to have him [Towns] here,” Brunson said.
The feeling is mutual.
“Cap [Brunson] just put me in a position to succeed,” Towns said. “Teammates have been great, we’re just getting more cohesive with each other so a testament to the coaching staff, testament to ‘cap.’”
McBride’s three pointer with 46 seconds left gave the Knicks a 66-47 lead at halftime.
Leads in the NBA can shrink in a hurry but, to the Knicks credit, they never let up as the Bucks never got closer than 15 points in the entire second half.
Towns appeared to be in some discomfort early in the third quarter but he scored the first four points. Brunson hit four of his five shots for eight points including a running lay up with less than a minute left as the Knicks led 91-72 after three.
Garbage time arrived early in the fourth quarter as Bucks coach Doc Rivers lifted his starters with just under 8 and half minutes left.
Thibodeau is a tough critic, even after wins, but there was not much for him to complain about after this one.
“I liked that how we played. I thought we shared the ball, we made plays, we cut, we got people open, we screened well. We did a lot of little things,” he said.