Bucks 123, Knicks 108: Giannis Antetokounmpo dominates in the fourth quarter to close out New York

In a made-for-TV late tipoff Friday night at Fiserv Forum, the Milwaukee Bucks won for the fourth time in five games with a 123-108 victory over the New York Knicks.

The game between the two teams tipped off after 9:15 p.m. as part of a nationally televised schedule, making it the second time the two teams had routines altered to play. The Bucks beat the Knicks in New York after an 11 a.m. start time on Dec. 12.

Before the game Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer said his team got an extra hour of sleep before shootaround and then had more time during the day to nap, so perhaps they were in favor of a later start. And maybe the bonus winks did help, at least initially, but by the end of the first half and through the third quarter it looked like they snoozed a bit too much as the Knicks nearly wiped out a 15-point deficit.

Giannis Antetokounmpo woke everybody up in the fourth quarter with a rousing backwards, over-the-head, cross-court pass to Grayson Allen for a three-pointer with 8 minutes 21 seconds left to put the Bucks up 105-94.

“Yeah, that was ridiculous,” Allen said with a smile.

That helped the Bucks rebuild their lead to as many as 16 before having to withstand another late Knicks rally.

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The victory evened the Bucks record in January to 7-7 and they improved to 31-20 overall. Milwaukee also won the season series with New York 3-1. The Knicks lost for the sixth time in their last seven games to fall to 23-27.

Milwaukee is 19-4 when its Big Three of Antetokounmpo, Khris Middleton and Jrue Holiday all play.

Antetokounmpo led all scorers with 38 points, the ninth time in January he has topped 30 points. He added 13 rebounds and five assists. Holiday had 24 points and tied a season-high with 4 three-pointers. He also handed out 10 assists. Middleton scored 20 and added seven rebounds and four assists.

Allen returned from a one-game suspension to start and scored 13 points on 4-of-8 shooting, including 3-for-7 from behind the three-point line.

“I wouldn’t say surprised, I was kind of just waiting to hear," Allen said of the discipline the league handed down following a flagrant 2 foul he committed on Chicago Bulls guard Alex Caruso on Jan. 21.

"I understand that the rules, a lot of it is about the result of the play, right? And so the result of the play was a hard fall. Unfortunately Alex was injured so the NBA felt there was a need for a suspension. I’m not going to say I disagree with it or anything like that. It is what it is. You just accept it and now I’m back.”

After that game Bulls head coach Billy Donovan called for the league to look into the play and said Allen had a history of such things dating to his college days at Duke.

“I understand where coach Donovan is coming from," Allen said. "He’s trying to defend his player. He’s trying to stick up for his players in an important time after a guy took a hard fall and got hurt. So, I think everything he said came from a place of, I think it came from a place where he was tying to do the right thing. I don’t think he necessarily just sought out to attack me as an individual. I think more in his brain he’s like I gotta defend my guy right now and this is the opportunity to do that, and he didn’t want to let it pass so that’s what he did.”

Wesley Matthews was also back for Milwaukee after missing two games with a bruise on his left knee, but he had foul trouble in 13 minutes of action. George Hill led the Bucks reserves with seven points.

The Knicks were led by Evan Fournier’s 25 points while R.J. Barrett added 23. Quentin Grimes (11) and Alec Burks (10) reached double figures in reserve.

Julius Randle was held to nine points, but he had 11 rebounds.

“I think we wanted to throw a lot of different people at him, a lot of different bodies,” Budenholzer said of the Knicks all-star. “He’s a very unique player. The ball’s in his hands a lot. I just think hopefully, maybe, just the ability to put different guys on him, match different guys against him (is tough). I thought the activity and the guys off the ball showed a crowd and got some balls on digs and things like that. It takes everybody with a guy like Randle.”

Antetokounmpo took over in the fourth quarter after a Burks three cut the Milwaukee lead to 93-91, as Antetokounmpo followed a Holiday basket with seven straight points before his incredible assist to Allen. This was after Antetokounmpo tracked down an offensive rebound off an Allen missed three and was double teamed.

“I was open again but I didn’t think he saw me," Allen said. "So, I was just kind of waiting there and like maybe he’ll turn over his right shoulder and find the pass and then he just threw a pass that you would see someone throw messing around pregame or something like that. And it was right on the money. I mean, he does ridiculous stuff like that all the time, so I guess I just kind of learn to expect it.

“I’m not gonna lie, in my head I was like I gotta make this one after that when I got it. But thankfully I had time to line it up and let it go.”

Middleton contributed six points after that, and his first three-pointer of the game with 6:08 left put Milwaukee up 113-97. Much like the second quarter in which they rallied, the Knicks used an 8-0 run to get within 113-105 with 3:58 left, but Mitchell Robinson missed two free throws and the Knicks couldn’t get closer than that.

Antetokounmpo scored 12 points and had seven rebounds in the fourth.

New York pulled within a possession on eight occasions in the third quarter, but Milwaukee was always able to get a stop and score on the other end to eventually go into the fourth quarter up 93-88. The Bucks missed their first six three-pointers in the quarter until Hill hit a triple with 2:04 left. To that point, the Bucks relied on their free throw shooting to keep a step ahead of the Knicks as they went 11-for-12 in the third. Antetokounmpo and Holiday combined for 17 points in the quarter as well.

“They went on a couple big runs and then thankfully for us we kind of got a timely stop to end that run and then a big bucket to respond," Allen said. "Their offense was clicking tonight. Fournier hit a bunch of big threes, a bunch of tough threes, so they definitely made it tough on us defensively. But we were able to respond on the other end. It was usually a big shot or a big play offensively from one of us to kind of stop them.”

A Connaughton buzzer-beater gave the Bucks a 67-63 lead going into the half, which salvaged the back half of the second quarter for the Bucks after they shot the lights out through the first 18 minutes.

Milwaukee came out on fire, shooting 70% through the first 15 minutes of game play and 50% from behind the three-point line in racing to a 15-point lead with 5:43 to go in the second quarter. But the Knicks went on a 21-7 run between then and the time Connaughton hit his three.

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“I do think, even though it’s just one basket, one three, that was a big shot,” Budenholzer said. “We talked about it as coaches. They’d made a big run, I think they had 33 in the second quarter, so to just bump it to four and to feel a little bit better. But we have guys that can attack and pass and sometimes late in the clock or late in the quarters and it’s gotta happen quick and quick decisions and quick triggers, these guys are capable of executing in those situations.”

Within that hot start, Antetokounmpo and Holiday each made their first five shots (four of which were threes for Holiday).

“I just saw it go through the hoop,” Holiday said. “I think it’s kind of that first layup, that fast break, which I almost missed I just started knocking ‘em down I think a lot of my threes were kinda from the same place but I was getting good looks and they were going in.”

Antetokounmpo led all scorers with 17 points at the break but he left frustrated after being whistled for three personal fouls in the final 3:42. After his last foul, he earned a delay of game as he took the ball toward the Bucks bench before firing it cross court to Bobby Portis. The Knicks bodied Antetokounmpo hard, as he shot six free throws in the half and was taken to the floor when Nerlens Noel hooked Antetokounmpo’s face with the inside of his elbow. Noel was assessed a flagrant one for the foul.

Holiday had 14 while Middleton chipped in 12 while Allen had eight. Barrett led the Knicks with 13 and Fournier had 10. Grimes added 11 off the bench. Each team took advantage of turnovers, with the Bucks scoring 12 points off 12 Knicks giveaways and the Knicks scoring 14 off eight Bucks gifts.

Milwaukee missed just six shots in the first quarter in taking a 39-30 lead as Antetokounmpo scored 13 points early. The Knicks were able to stay connected as they matched the Bucks’ five made three-pointers, which was needed as Randle didn’t score. The Bucks looked like they might take complete control of the game in the first half of the second quarter as Holiday hit two threes and Allen made one in taking a 50-36 lead. Middleton then scored five of his 12 first half points in a less-than-two-minute stretch to push the lead to 15 before New York made its run.

Randle did not score his first points until 1:56 remained in the half, and he finished with four. Barrett and Grimes each scored eight in the quarter.

Bucks reacts to Giannis' all-star start

Going to All-Star Games is becoming old hat for 27-year-old two-time league MVP Antetokounmpo, as he tied Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for most selections in franchise history with six.

For his part,Budenholzer said if he was a fan at home he would be voting for Antetokounmpo also.

“He’s beyond special,” Budenholzer added. “I think the fans appreciate him, I think the players, the people he’s competing against appreciate him, I think you guys the media appreciate him. To start at a young age…To have become an all-star six years ago, or a starter and things like that, and then just to continue it, the consistency, the greatness, we’re incredibly fortunate to have him.”

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Bucks 123, Knicks 108: Giannis Antetokounmpo scores 38 points