Knicks Build Big Lead vs. Bucks Before Losing Late

The Knicks are allowing 124.4 points per 100 possessions with iHart on the court and less than 110 points when he sits. Hartenstein's Net Rating is an abysmal -18.3.

The Knicks reached the mid-point of the 2022-23 campaign Monday night, and almost walked away with one of their most impressive wins of the season. 

New York played well in the first half and built their lead all the way up to 17 points in the third quarter. However, Milwaukee got hot from behind the arc to get them back in the game before Jrue Holiday sealed the deal with several clutch buckets in the closing moments. The Bucks ended up edging out New York, 111-107.

With three minutes left in the third, the Knicks were up 73-58. Up until that point in the game, the Bucks had hit just eight of their 28 three-point attempts (28%). Over the final 15 minutes of the contest, they shot 11-for-21 (53%) from distance. They dished out 11 assists during this stretch and committed just one turnover, and outscored New York 53-34.

Yes, there were undoubtedly some defensive miscues (they over-helped a few times, and Fournier and Randle got caught in no man's land on several occasions), but the Bucks also made several contested shots. Milwaukee outscored the Knicks by 24 points from three-point territory.

"I saw a championship team just kind of grind us down, chipping away," Jalen Brunson said after the game. "We didn't hold up enough resistance to get that lead. Got to give them credit. We've got to be better, but you've got to give them credit as well."

The shame of this game was that the Knicks wasted a career-high 44 points from Brunson, who got off to an incredible start and almost carried his team home late. Brunson, who also tacked on seven rebounds, four assists, and four 3-pointers in 39 minutes, poured in 18 points in the first quarter - a career-high for points in any quarter. He finished the game shooting 15-of-30 from the floor and 10-of-10 from the free-throw line. He became the first Knick to score 40 points on 50% from the field, 40% from three, and 100% from the free throw line with ten or more made free throws since Carmelo Anthony in 2014.

As we've come to expect, Brunson made just about every big bucket for NY down the stretch, scoring 15 points in the five minutes of regulation on Monday night. Incredibly, in the 83 clutch minutes the Knicks have played this season, Brunson has scored 85 points while shooting 54.7% from the floor, 50% from deep and 82% from the line. He's committed just two turnovers in those 83 minutes of action. 

Brunson's backcourt partner, Immanuel Quickley, also played very well Monday vs. Milwaukee. IQ finished with 23 points (shooting 9-of-14 from the floor), four rebounds, and three 3-pointers in 44 minutes and didn't commit a single turnover. 

In the seven games he's started in place of RJ Barrett, Quickley has averaged 20.3 points, 5.3 rebounds and 5.9 assists. The only other players to match or exceed those per-game totals in those categories since Christmas are Nikola Jokic, James Harden, Luka Doncic, Domantas Sabonis, LaMelo Ball and LeBron James.

Oh, and IQ is averaging just 0.9 turnovers during this stretch, by far the fewest amongst this group. 

However, outside of Brunson and Quickley, the rest of the Knicks struggled mightily on the offensive end vs. the Bucks. IQ and JB combined for 67 points on 44 FG attempts. The other seven Knicks that saw action Monday night scored 40 points on 56 FG attempts.