MAULED IN MILWAUKEE
Bucks rout Knicks again, but only by 26 this time
MILWAUKEE — The Knicks are halfway to hell.
The Knicks were back at Fiserv Forum on Tuesday — site of their worst calamity under David Fizdale and one of the last nails in his coffin, a 44-point defeat on Dec. 2.
Knicks interim coach Mike Miller vowed that game was “a long time ago,’’ but it seemed very recent when the Bucks jumped on them at the outset Tuesday, took a 25-point halftime lead and rang up a 128-102 victory at their shiny new home.
Miller had no magic defensive elixir to slow down Giannis Antetokounmpo, who racked up 37 points in 21 minutes 26 seconds, seemingly taking too much glee in destroying the Knicks.
The Knicks, who were coming off an upset win over Miami, limped into the midpoint of their season at 11-30 on pace for a 22-win campaign. They are one game ahead of last season’s squad at the midpoint (10-31).
“In my opinion, they’re probably the best team in the NBA,’’ said Julius Randle, who kept the Knicks in it early scoring 16 of his 25 points by halftime and also grabbed 15 rebounds. “Play a team like that, you can’t have too many mistakes and your communication has to be great and you definitely can’t dig yourself a hole.”
It was an easy, quick, early, dominating night for Antetokounmpo, who had racked up 32 points four minutes into the third quarter, scoring every which way. “The Greek Freak’’ was removed for good with 5:40 left in the third with the Bucks up by 34.
Antetokounmpo finished 12 of 17 from the field, 10 of 12 from the line. He made 3 of 6 3-pointers. He’ll be a free agent in 2021.
Rookie RJ Barrett added 22 points, heating up from the 3-point line by hitting a season-high 5 of 7 attempts and draining 5 of 6 free throws. But there was nothing for him to celebrate.
“We got blown out,’’ Barrett said. “I don’t think about that stuff when we’re losing. The game like Miami [Sunday], that made me happy. Today, no.’’
Frustration boiled over in the third quarter when Knicks starting point guard Elfrid Payton was ejected on a double technical for lashing out at the officials. The Knicks were already missing backup point guard Frank Ntilikina (groin) and Marcus Morris (neck). Both players also missed the first meeting here.
“I was just trying to stick up for my teammates,’’ Payton said. “I was frustrated. I felt like we were attacking just as hard as them.”
The Knicks shot just 35.3 percent with Reggie Bullock (0-for-8), starting for Morris, and Damyean Dotson (0-for-7) combining to go 0 for 15.
Miller said all their misses allowed Antetokounmpo to get into his rhythm.
“He got to the basket, we put different people on him,’’ Miller said. “You just saw why they’re the No. 1 team in the East. He’s done that repeatedly. We had some things we wanted to try to do but I don’t know how consistently we did those things to make it more difficult for him.’’
Six weeks ago, the Knicks were blitzed, 132-88, on this court. Afterward, Fizdale said his players came in expecting not to win and he was fired three days later. Miller, then an assistant, didn’t agree with that assessment but keeping with his nature, said he wants the past to be the past.
“I don’t think so,’’ Miller said before the game on whether the Knicks were in intimidated last time. “We’re trying to focus on where are we today, where can we be tomorrow. We’re not looking backwards. If our best days are behind us, what do we have to look forward to?”
Miller needed to call two timeouts in the first five minutes as the Bucks ran off to an 18-4 lead, making 8 of 11 shots while the Knicks went 1 of 8. The spree started when Barrett committed a turnover leading to an Antetokounmpo fast-break dunk.
Khris Middleton scored on a floater, Antetokounmpo tore off on another fast break for a dunk and then “The Greek Freak” scored on a putback. It was 8-0 after 2:53 had expired and Miller used his first timeout.
The Bucks are a lean, green fighting machine and moved their league-best record to 36-6 with expectations on making The Finals.
“[Giannis] played a good game but I don’t think we played our best game,’’ Payton said.
One game after the Bucks’ rout last month, Fizdale was fired, Miller was promoted and his record is 7-12. But the Knicks still seem headed to a winter of oblivion.