The Knicks fought hard against one of the East’s best, but Giannis and the Bucks put New York away down the stretch.

In the midst of a four-game winning streak, the Knicks returned home for a showdown with the cream of the crop in the Eastern Conference, the Milwaukee Bucks. This was a “show me” game for the young Knicks, who still don’t have many believers outside of the Big Apple. And while the Knicks showed a lot, it wasn’t quite enough, as they fell 111-107 in a hard-fought battle that saw them lead by as many as 17 points in the third quarter. 

It sucked. Nobody likes a consolation prize. Especially when they begin to add up as they have for the Knicks as of late. But beneath this familiar loss lies another silver lining; this is a damn good basketball team.

Let’s dive in.

The game

From the start this game had the nervous energy better suited for one played in late May. Neither offense could get much going as the defenses dictated the tempo and shots attempted. The Knicks fell down 10-2 and seemingly couldn’t get anything going. Julius Randle especially struggled, making just one of his 12 field goal attempts in the quarter.

When analyzing a game I find it paramount to understand the Knicks’ importance to contextualize what happened on the court. To understand the Milwaukee Bucks is to understand what an absolute nightmare of a matchup they are for the Knicks. The Bucks have a very clear vision for what should happen on both ends of the court. Defensively, they feed ball handlers into the paint and dare them to attack Giannis Antetokounmpo or Brook Lopez at the basket. While other teams counter this with off-ball action to open up 3-point attempts, the Knicks don’t move much off the ball at all. The result is an abundance of isolation possessions — only 16 of the Knicks’ 38 field goals were assisted. 

This is all to say that this game was never going to be easy. And even as the Knicks fought and clawed their way back into the game, eventually taking the lead late in the first quarter, it felt like pushing a car up a steep hill.

In the second quarter that hill flattened out a bit. Led by Immanuel Quickley and Jalen Brunson, who scored a career-high 44 points, the Knicks’ offense began to find its way. The Bucks bet that Knicks guards couldn’t create enough offense inside the paint to build a lead and Quickley and Brunson proved them wrong, with Quickley alone hitting four shots inside 10 feet. The evolution of Quickley has been nothing short of awe-inspiring. While he was once a microwave scorer mostly looking to shoot 3-pointers or draw fouls, Quickley has become a methodical surgeon dicing through defenses looking to create the best possible shot for his team. On his back, the Knicks headed into the locker room with a 5-point lead.

The third quarter saw more of the same, as the Knicks extended their lead to as many as 17 points. This was as dominant a stretch as the Knicks have showcased all season. The Bucks’ defense was no longer dictating much of anything as the Knicks got anywhere they wanted. If you’re the type to hold onto positive signs, you must have been thrilled watching the Knicks blow the doors off of a title contender this way.

Unfortunately, time is often a flat circle for Knicks fans. So when Isaiah Hartenstein checked in and a 17-point lead quickly became just five, most watching saw it for what it was; a movie we had all seen before. A bad one. The Knicks have turned blowing leads into a rare art form that they have a monopoly on. Milwaukee took the lead barely eight game minutes after the Knicks pushed their lead to 17 points. The rest of the game was a tug-of-war that saw the lead change hands multiple times. In the end, the Bucks were able to hit a few more shots than the Knicks.

But what made this game different was the lack of a meaningful collapse. The Knicks didn’t blow this lead because they changed their offense or executed poorly down the stretch. They blew the lead because a better team went out and grabbed it from them. In fact, the Knicks took four of five of the Bucks’ punches. Each time they had an answer. Brunson had an answer. On top of that, Randle fought through a tough shooting night, Mitchell Robinson continued his interior dominance, and Obi Toppin returned.

Which is why it’s tough to be too disappointed with the Knicks’ performance. They hit eight less threes, got a 9-29 shooting night from one of their two best players, and had to create almost all of their offense individually. It was a game the Knicks wanted to win but, instead, may have done something more significant; showed the Bucks, and the rest of the Eastern Conference, that they are not going anywhere.