The Knicks pulled out a win over the shorthanded Bucks, but got even more shorthanded themselves thanks to a devastating foot injury to Mitchell Robinson. Still, the team emerged two games over .500 thanks to more big performances from RJ Barrett and Alec Burks.

In the land of the blind, the one-eyed are kings. Absent three starters, the New York Knicks couldn’t see very well last night, with Julius Randle missing his first game of the year, Reggie Bullock still out, and Mitchell Robinson unavailable shortly after tip-off. But the Milwaukee Bucks were groping in the dark without four of their starting five, including Jrue Holiday, Khris Middleton, and Milwaukee’s Best, Giannis Antetokounmpo. Tough break: the Tom Thibodeau Knicks are a Zamboni, smoothing over all obstacles, and in their fourth shot at an Eastern power missing their best player, New York polished off Milwaukee, 102-96, for their third win in a row.

The Knicks raced out to an 11-2 lead. It seemed as if the biggest surprise of the evening would be Thanasis Antetokounmpo scoring seven straight to bring Milwaukee back. He wasn’t done, nor were the night’s WTFs.

Only a week after returning from a fractured right hand, Robinson suffered a fractured right foot. Details should emerge today or tomorrow on the severity, but it’s a big blow to the team and to Mitch. I can’t even with this right now. More words to come in the future.

The Bucks decided to shift their defense from confrontation to conflagration, playing zone the whole game, something the newly-returned Derrick Rose compared to AAU ball. In the early going the Knicks looked like an NBA team facing amateurs playing gimmick defense: four straight 3-pointers put New York up nine, and Taj Gibson looked like Draymond Green catching passes in the soft underbelly of the D and dishing out four early dimes. Sometimes Taj did it himself.

The Knicks assisted on a dozen of their baker’s dozen buckets in the first quarter. In the second we were treated to Obi Toppin’s best stretch of play in weeks. Obi with the oop.

Obi with the jumper.

He also went the length of the floor for a lefty layup. Foreshadowing: Toppin would not be the only former lottery pick forward who’d play some pleasantly surprising minutes in this one.

Speaking of surprising forwards, Thanasis and Jordan Nwora both had career nights. The NBA is so top-heavy it’s easy to forget how talented the players we never give a second thought to actually are. Nwora had a career-high 16 in the first half; he and Antetokounmpo scored more than half the Bucks’ points, keeping them within three at the break.

Elfrid Payton and RJ Barrett opened the second half with 3-pointers. RJ gutted out a tough night, made tougher on one sequence where Milwaukee redwood Brook Lopez jumped and landed his knee in Barrett’s boy parts. Speaking of landing and boy parts, both teams were landing their longballs: midway through the third, the Knicks were over 40% from deep, the Bucks better than 50%. And look who got in on the 3-point action thanks to the sweet touch pass by Alec Burks:

Kevin Knox saw his most minutes in a non-blowout since two months ago, and accorded himself well. It was Summer League 2018 Knox all over again: in addition to the corner three, he cut to the basket and drew a shooting foul, making both free throws, plus nabbed a couple defensive rebounds late in the third when the Knicks seemed to be gaining some separation. With Mitch out a while, the Knicks may have to steal some stretches of play with Toppin and Knox contributing. Now that’s a bedtime story I’d like to wake up to.

A 9-0 run late in the third put the Knicks up six. When the fourth opened with a Burks 3-pointer and a pair of triples by Immanuel Quickley (one off a nice dish from Knox), New York led 90-79. 

All good, right? Nope. Nwora and Thansis raised objections. This clip is from the third, but it’s soooo pretty I have to lead with it here.

Antetokounmpo hit another crazy shot to pull the Bucks within two with two minutes left.

30 seconds later, the ex-Knick found the ex-Net for the slam to tie things at 96. 

The Knicks called time, and off a broken set, Burks canned a 3-pointer to retake the lead.

In the final minute Barrett turned the ball over but hustled back to knock it away from Thanasis. Barrett had a shot to salt the game away but missed the dagger 3-pointer with 14 seconds left.

The Bucks had one last chance. Two, actually, after Gibson mysteriously waited about a tenth of a second to use the foul New York had to give. Bryn Forbes got a fair look from deep but couldn’t connect. Burks grabbed the rebound and was fouled by Lopez, who picked up a technical foul complaining about it. But on this night, it was the Bucks and not the refs who were blind, and the team that won the game may have lost something more precious in the process.

Schlemiel! Schlimazel! Hasenpfeffer Incorporated!

Notes

• 😔

• Rose grew emotional in his postgame interview with Mike Breen when learning about the Mitch injury. 

• Walt Frazier, as the camera showed Mitch’s teammates helping him to the locker room: “Come on, NBA. You a multi-billion-dollar business and this guy has to do all this work to get to the locker room. Where’s the wheelchair?” 

• RJ with a gutty 21 points, seven boards, and a season-high seven assists. There were also late-and-close baskets. This kid is easy to love.

• Taj and Nerlens Noel combined for 12 points, 19 rebounds, six assists, and seven blocks. No one can replace Mitch single-handedly, but these two have been a reasonable facsimilie all year long. Both also bring a bit of shooting range, and Noel had this nice sequence with Burks:

• Burks with his fifth straight game of 20-plus points; the game before the streak he had 19. Also a career-high six 3-pointers, 10 rebounds, five assists and even two blocks. What a signing he’s turned out to be.

• MSG trivia: Burks now has six 20-plus point games off the bench. Who has the most in a season by a Knick? I guessed John Starks and was wrong.

• The Rose/Quickley bench backcourt was back in action, combining for 26 points, many of which came in the first half of the fourth. This is a different team with just the slightest upgrade in depth. Good to see these two looking like themselves. 

• Bucks’ coach Mike Budenholzer was hit with a T for griping after Noel got away with fouling Thanasis at the rim. The yelling came with his mask off, less than six feet from the ref. How does the NBA allow that, now of all times?! What the hell is the point of everyone wearing masks if they can scream in an unmasked person’s face?!?! Thibodeau almost never has his mask on properly either. Is Adam Silver gonna have to die from COVID before the league takes this shit seriously?

• What’s your in-game pet peeve? One of mine is when two teammates fight for the same rebound. Even if they don’t lose possession, I always yell “Same team!” at the TV. When they do lose the ball, my cynicism regarding human nature darkens from dim to ebon.

• Trivia answer: folk hero J.R. Smith, 29 in 2012-13. Reminding us that Elfrid Payton’s flaws as a player are cause for endless slander, but if you can shoot, you’re forgiven for being too lit to be dependable. 

Quoth Rose after hearing about Mitch’s fractured foot: “Ohhhhhhh!” A tough break, literally and figuratively. But so far these Knicks are all about finding a way. Next game is tomorrow when they host Miami. Tune in then to see what they come up with next.