The Bucks had hoisted the in-season trophy one year ago with their star player named tournament MVP, but Antetokounmpo had missed their previous four games \u2014 all losses in what is now a seven-game skid overall \u2014 with a thigh injury.<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously, you want to win games, you want to win tournaments. We had the opportunity to go to Vegas twice in a row. Not going to Vegas and not being able to gamble on \u201834-Red\u2019 one more time, I think it\u2019s going to be very tough for me,\u201d Antetokounmpo said, referring to his uniform number. \u201cAt the end of the day, I want to win. We\u2019ve lost seven in a row, and I don\u2019t remember the last time I lost seven in a row. We gotta lock in \u2026 and be able to get that win tomorrow [in Brooklyn].<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I felt good. \u2026 For the first game back, I felt powerful. I hoped that I could help the team win the game, but we have another one tomorrow and we have to get back on track.\u201d<\/p>\n
Antetokounmpo had been listed as questionable for the Bucks\u2019 first visit to MSG this season, but the nine-time All-Star participated in the team\u2019s morning shootaround and was announced as available about an hour before tipoff.<\/p>\n
![\"Giannis](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/GettyImages-2248962330.jpg\")
Giannis Antetokounmpo looks to make a move on Mitchell Robinson during the Knicks\u2019 118-109 win over the Bucks at Madison Square Garden on Nov. 28, 2025. Getty Images<\/p>\n
Antetokounmpo committed two personal fouls in the first 90 seconds of the opening quarter, but he still netted 15 points by halftime, including a couple of alley-oop dunks, before matching that scoring output after intermission.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith Giannis back, obviously he was on a minutes restriction tonight, which is really difficult in a game like this,\u201d Bucks coach Doc Rivers said. \u201cWe lost the leads when we took him off the floor.\u201d<\/p>\n
One of Milwaukee\u2019s early wins this season was a 121-111 defeat of the Knicks at Fiserv Forum on Oct. 30, with Antetokounmpo netting a game-high 37 points on 16-for-22 shooting in 33 minutes.<\/p>\n
![\"Jalen](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/GettyImages-2248359992.jpg\")
Jalen Brunson is guarded by Giannis Antetokounmpo during the Knicks\u2019 win over the Bucks. NBAE via Getty Images<\/p>\n
When asked afterward by a Post reporter about ESPN\u2019s initial report concerning the summertime trade possibility to New York, Antetokounmpo replied, \u201cI don\u2019t remember that.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cRight now, I\u2019m here representing my team, and that\u2019s it. We beat the Knicks. So it doesn\u2019t matter,\u201d he continued. \u201cWhat matters right now is we have a game in two days \u2026 try to stay locked in and get two in a row.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I didn\u2019t read that article. I try to stay away from all the rumors and speculation and trades. It doesn\u2019t concern me one bit. I try to involve myself and I try to help my team win games.\u201d<\/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
The 30-year-old Greek Freak did acknowledge that night there was \u201ca lot of extra [motivation]\u201d to face the Knicks, who swept Milwaukee in the three-game season series between the teams last year.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey were way better than us last year,\u201d Antetokounmpo said. \u201cWe didn\u2019t make it tough for them. It was very easy, in my opinion. As the leader of this team, I remember. I don\u2019t forget things.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Giannis Antetokounmpo\u2019s return to the court fittingly came in New York. One month after feigning ignorance following a…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":412334,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5122],"tags":[5229,3368,3130,1260,405,403,3122,5226,5225,5228,5227,62,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-412333","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-milwaukee-bucks","11":"tag-nba","12":"tag-new-york","13":"tag-new-york-city","14":"tag-new-york-knicks","15":"tag-newyork","16":"tag-newyorkcity","17":"tag-ny","18":"tag-nyc","19":"tag-sports","20":"tag-united-states","21":"tag-united-states-of-america","22":"tag-unitedstates","23":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","24":"tag-us","25":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115631684988828758","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/412333","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=412333"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/412333\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/412334"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=412333"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=412333"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=412333"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}