Tom Thibodeau and his players don’t need any Christmas presents this year. They gave themselves and their fans the best gift of all.
A victory over the title-contending Bucks.
The Knicks saved their finest performance of the season for the holiday, snapping their nine-game losing streak to Milwaukee in front of a sold-out crowd at the Garden.
Two days after Giannis Antetokounmpo, Damian Lillard and the Bucks torched the Knicks at MSG, they returned the favor in an impressive 129-122 victory in which the big four of Jalen Brunson, Julius Randle, RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley were all at the top of their guard and the Knicks’ defense shut down one of the league’s premier offenses.
The aforementioned foursome combined for 103 points, with Brunson leading the way with 38 points, six assists and no turnovers, and the Knicks finally limited Milwaukee from deep.
In the first three games between the two teams this season, the Bucks had shot 54.1 percent from 3 and averaged 19.7 made 3’s while piling up 128.7 points per game.
This encounter was different.
While Lillard, Antetokounmpo and Khris Middelton had 88 between them, their teammates struggled.
Bucks players other than them shot 12 of 28 from the field and Milwaukee made only 13 of 42 from downtown.
The Knicks beat the Bucks for the first time since Nov. 5, 2021 and the victory marked their first win over one of the Eastern Conference’s two powers, the Celtics and Bucks, in seven tries.
They led by as many as 16 in the fourth quarter, although it did get somewhat close late.
But Brunson’s jumper in the lane with 1:11 left pushed the lead back to the eight and he punctuated the basket with a fist pump, a rare show of emotion.
Randle had 24 points and nine rebounds, Barrett scored 21 to snap out of a recent shooting slump and Quickley had 20 off the bench.
Isaiah Hartenstein added 11 points, eight rebounds and four assists.
The first 24 minutes were arguably the best the Knicks have played all season.
They certainly were their best two quarters against the Bucks this year in their fourth game against the title contenders.
The Knicks were sharp at both ends of the floor. They shared the ball (16 assists on 26 made field goals), defended well (the Bucks made just 6-of-22 3-point attempts) and held Antetokounmpo to nine points on 4 of 10 shooting.
Barrett got them going, hitting six of his first seven shots from the field en route to an 18-point half after entering the game in a deep shooting slump.
Brunson was the best player on the floor, scoring 20 points in outplaying Lillard.
The Knicks won the gritty stats, outscoring the Bucks 32-16 in the paint, more than doubling them up in transition, 15-7, and edging them in second-chance points, 11-9.
Predictably, the Bucks came out strong after the break.
Fueled by a 12-point third quarter from Lillard, Milwaukee crept to within four on the strength of a 9-0 run.
Brunson didn’t let them get closer. He stopped the sport with a 3-point play, then scored again on a pull-up jumper and the Knicks closed the period well, maintaining the 11-point edge they had at the break.