Following a season long 8 game homestand that seen New York finish up a respectable 4 and 4 the Knicks would travel to Milwaukee to take on the team with the worst record in the Association and as has been the norm for most parts of this season, the Knicks would come out flat.
New York would benefit from 3 straight from long range to momentarily take control in the first 18 to 13 and would hold a slim 1 point margin after the first quarter. JR Smith who has been coming on as of late had his game going and the Knicks needed all he could give and a little bit more as only he and Carmelo Anthony were the only two Knicks who would get going offensively in the game.
Milwaukee, the league’s lowest scoring team, were without OJ Mayo one of their primary scorers as was the case the last time these two teams met on December 18th but that didn’t stop Milwaukee as they received good contributions throughout their lineup. It was Brandon Knight who would again lead his team just as he did during the December matchup in which he scored a career high 36 points. Raymond Felton’s miserable season continued on both ends of the court. On one end Felton was unable to keep Knight from wherever he wanted to go and on the other end could only manage a measly 3 points while playing 35 minutes.
The story of the second half was Milwaukee’s ability to fend off every Knicks run. Every time New York would close the gap Milwaukee would get timely buckets, often out hustling New York for offensive rebounds or drilling gut wrenching threes to the tune of 61% for the game hitting 11 of 18 from behind the arc.
Anthony, who finished with a game high 36 points attempted to put the team on his back to get the win, scoring 17 of those points in the 4th including a three pointer that tied the game at 98 with just :19 seconds to go in the game. Knight though would methodically wind the clock down before drilling a dagger 3, right in the face of Felton who was backing up as Knight was pulling up for the shot. Melo would throw up a desperation heave as time expired to no avail. Another agonizing defeat for the Knicks, this time to the worst the NBA has to offer.
Final
Knicks 98 Bucks 101
Notes:
Milwaukee snapped a 7 game losing streak to NY
Kenyon Martin missed the game with a sore ankle. Iman Shumpert returned from injury.
NY shot just 15-24 from the foul line
Milwaukee had 5 players in double figures
Caron Butler suffered an ankle injury and did not return
Wilson Caicedo: PureSportsNY