Also: Brunson = good
“Hell is empty,” Shakespeare wrote in The Tempest, “and all the devils are here.” The Knicks probably felt that way Friday as the Oklahoma City Thunder stormed and swarmed Madison Square Garden like a pack of ring wraiths. But just as the Thunder are a problem the Knicks have yet to come close to solving, the Knicks have become the nut the Milwaukee Bucks just can’t crack, with Sunday’s 140-106 win their fourth straight over the Bucks.
Normally being down 13 at the half is a disappointment, but the last time these teams met in early November that deficit was 19, so the Bucks could take that as a measure of progress. The biggest takeaways from this performance, for me, are three-fold — two newly-discovered realities, then a deep dive into pointless imagination.
The reality is the Knicks are now for real, something the Bucks were as of somewhat recently, but no longer are. That’s (partly) why Friday’s loss to the Thunder stung so much; that was the first real clean shot to the jaw this team has taken in a while. That’s why last night’s response by the Knicks, even against a merely mediocre team with an MVP, meant so much. They got right back on track, leading the last 40 or so minutes and up double-digits most of the game, as many as 34.
Jalen Brunson exploded for 44 points in only 29 minutes, including 23 in the first quarter; if he hadn’t missed six minutes in the third after suffering what Tom Thibodeau called a shoulder “stinger,” it’s probably his fourth game as a Knick with 50+ points. You know how some nights you can see a shooter work their way into the game? That wasn’t the case in this one. Brunson’s stroke looked pure from the get-go; the control he showed setting up his man over and over again before teeing off on them was like Juan Soto taking measure of a pitcher during an at-bat.
Jalen Brunson is a BAD man
Brunson was especially aggressive whenever A.J. Green had the assignment guarding him, giving the third-year guard an education down on the block. His effort in leading the win was typical of his time as a Knick: his numbers in the Thunder game were fine, but you knew he wasn’t close to satisfied with how any of that night went. He didn’t just come out Sunday looking for his shot more; he was looking to change the vibe around the team. He did.
As for the Bucks, their reality, while no less real, is nowhere near as appealing. Despite another Hall of Fame season from Giannis Antetokounmpo and a better Damian Lillard, their loss to the Knicks drops them to three games over .500, and somehow even that’s a generous reading — they’re a losing team on the road, they have more losing streaks (5) than the Cavs, Celtics and Knicks combined (4), and while everyone else in the East’s top-six has played at least 10 games against the supposedly varsity West, the Bucks have only played five.
It’s weird, though not unheard of, for a team to be both top-heavy and a lightweight. These Bucks are. Antetokounmpo and Lillard combined for 46 points, which is fine, normally, if not when Brunson and Towns are going for 74. Milwaukee’s other three starters, Brook Lopez, Taurean Prince and Andre Jackson scored 17 between them, or one fewer than Cam Payne had for the Knicks. After losing four games in five to weaker sisters Brooklyn, Chicago and Portland, Milwaukee recently began bringing Khris Middleton off the bench. For what it’s worth, they’re 2-1 now since.
And finally, as for absurdity: you’ve seen these Knicks for half a year. Seen all they can be as well as what’s lacking. Towns has been a revelation, on- and off-court, I’d say. And if May rolls around and the Knicks fall in the second round again, and this summer for whatever reason you could make a Towns-for-Giannis deal work without giving up anything else of note . . . what would you do?
Quoth Jaybugkit: “Be ready for Detroit tomorrow.” That’s no joke: the Pistons snapped a forever losing streak against the Knicks the last time they played thanks to a 16-point first quarter lead. Sometimes it really is as simple as where and how you start. If the Knicks start well, all things will end that way. If not . . . well, see you tonight, either way.