Antetokounmpo, the most coveted trade target<\/a> if he ever forces his way out of Milwaukee, dropped a game-high 35 points on an efficient 16-for-22 from the field.\u00a0<\/p>\nWhat a difference between centers.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Giannis Antetokounmpo, who scored a game-high 37 points, slams home a dunk during the Bucks\u2019 121-111 win over the Knicks on Oct. 28, 2025. Benny Sieu-Imagn Images<\/p>\n
If the Knicks ever want the Bucks to take KAT in a trade for Antetokounmpo, they better hope Tuesday\u2019s tape isn\u2019t under consideration. It was ugly for Towns, who has looked lost in Mike Brown\u2019s offense.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Still, Brown applauded Towns\u2019 first-half effort, when the center only took one shot attempt as largely a decoy as the Knicks took a double-digit lead into the break. Then Towns forced the issue in the third quarter, missed a glut of shots, and acknowledged it was a problem.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI got a new role. I\u2019ve got to embrace that and I didn\u2019t do that for 48 minutes tonight. And it hurts,\u201d Towns said. \u201cIt\u2019s going to be a tough car ride [to Chicago for the next game Friday]. It\u2019s going to be a tough two days to live with that.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Even with Towns\u2019 issues, the Knicks (2-2), losers of two straight, kept the game close before the offense went dead midway through the fourth quarter. That\u2019s also when a worst-case Knicks scenario looked like a possibility, when Jalen Brunson crumbled to the court in pain after appearing to hurt his groin.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ryan Rollins, who scored 25 points, drives on Karl-Anthony Towns. Benny Sieu-Imagn Images<\/p>\n
It seemed painful, and potentially devastating to the Knicks\u2019 early-season plans, but Brunson returned after the timeout. He limped through some of the final six minutes, however, and the Knicks were outscored to end the contest 18-8.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Game over.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m fine,\u201d Brunson reassured.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Jalen Brunson, who scored 36 points, tries to drive past Ryan Rollins during the Knicks\u2019 loss to the Bucks. AP<\/p>\n
Brunson (36 points) and Mikal Bridges (24 points) were the only effective offensive weapons for the Knicks, especially with Towns in a slump.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI talk to [Towns], we talk and it\u2019s a process for all of us,\u201d Brunson said. \u201cThere are gonna be times when things aren\u2019t going one of our ways and it\u2019s on us as teammates to have his back.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cBut at some point, all of us go through a lull in the season. I don\u2019t even want to call it a lull. It\u2019s just we\u2019re still learning and everything is brand new for us. We\u2019re not gonna use that excuse for a long time. But these first couple weeks, it\u2019s still fresh for us.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Knicks were coming off their first loss of the season two nights prior, a brickfest in Miami that appeared to carry over when the Knicks started 1-for-10 from deep. But they picked up the efficiency dramatically in the second quarter \u2014 going 8-for-10 in those 12 minutes \u2014 and looked in control at halftime.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Then the third quarter was the death knell \u2014 an offensive misadventure \u2014 with Towns becoming the main reason. The center, who has struggled all season, was force-fed while Brunson went to the bench and put up the following stat line in the third quarter: two points, 1-for-9 shooting, two turnovers, three fouls, minus-14.\u00a0<\/p>\n
New York Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns (32) takes a shot between Milwaukee Bucks forward Bobby Portis (9) and forward Kyle Kuzma (18) in the 3rd quarter at Fiserv Forum. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n
A wreck.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve got do whatever is needed to win. First half, I played how he needed me to play. The game switched up and I tried to get going just in case they needed me. And I just didn\u2019t make a shot,\u201d Towns said. \u201cSo I pressed a little bit too much today. I have more experience than to do that. I didn\u2019t do what we needed to do to win tonight and that\u2019s on me. I take full responsibility.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Knicks were again playing without Miles McBride, who missed his second straight game for personal reasons. Guerschon Yabusele was also unavailable because of a sprained knee sustained in Miami.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\tWhat\u2019s happening on and off the Garden court\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSign up for Inside the Knicks by Stefan Bondy, a weekly exclusive on Sports+.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\tThank you\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
Brown used a new starting lineup, with Landry Shamet at the wing. Shamet played well with 16 points in 40 minutes. But Antetokounmpo, whose squad went 0-3 against the Knicks last season, was too good.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWell they\u2019re trying to play faster, and I don\u2019t know if they necessarily are playing faster, but they\u2019re trying to get up more 3s and they are doing that,\u201d Bucks coach Doc Rivers said. \u201cAnd so we want to try to get them off that line.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Rivers also believes these Bucks \u2014 who swapped out Damian Lillard and Brook Lopez to get younger and faster \u2014 are better equipped to combat the Knicks.\u00a0<\/p>\n
New York Knicks head coach Mike Brown reacts in the fourth quarter against the Milwaukee Bucks at Fiserv Forum. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n
\u201cI just think we\u2019re more athletic,\u201d Rivers said. \u201cI think we can guard better, we can switch in different spots.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Bucks also still have Antetokounmpo, the best player in the conference, who entered Tuesday averaging 36 points.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, oh man, he\u2019s a monster,\u201d Brown said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MILWAUKEE \u2014 In a contrast that defined a discouraging Knicks performance, Giannis Antetokounmpo played like a superstar and…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":340059,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5122],"tags":[5229,3368,24114,24115,24282,3130,1260,405,403,3122,5226,5225,5228,5227,62,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-340058","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-giannis-antetokounmpo","10":"tag-jalen-brunson","11":"tag-karl-anthony-towns","12":"tag-mike-brown","13":"tag-milwaukee-bucks","14":"tag-nba","15":"tag-new-york","16":"tag-new-york-city","17":"tag-new-york-knicks","18":"tag-newyork","19":"tag-newyorkcity","20":"tag-ny","21":"tag-nyc","22":"tag-sports","23":"tag-united-states","24":"tag-united-states-of-america","25":"tag-unitedstates","26":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","27":"tag-us","28":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115455858081425029","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/340058","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=340058"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/340058\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/340059"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=340058"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=340058"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=340058"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}