NBA
Jalen Brunson’s 38 points helps snap Bucks’ nine-game winning streak against Knicks
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All posts by Antonio KozlowUpdated26 Dec 2023
Yet another Christmas miracle! For quite some time, Milwaukee had been bullying the Knicks around and beat them nine games in a row, up until this Monday night when they faced them again in front of a sold-out home crowd and on national television.
Not only did New York finally defeat the Bucks, but did so on an inspired evening that saw Jalen Brunson score 38 points and lead his squad to an impressive 129-122 victory.
“We’ve struggled against this team throughout this year and the fact that we came out with a win today, it’s special,” the star guard said after the match. “I like the way we had a lead no matter how much they cut the lead down. We stayed poised and figured out a way to keep it and win.”
Deeper bag than Santa
20 first half points for Jalen Brunson
— Teg🚨 (@IQfor3) December 25, 2023
The New York team had been struggling in recent weeks, having lost five games already this month, including a 130-111 defeat on Saturday to Milwaukee for the first of this two-game series. This time around, Brunson had plenty of help from his teammates.
“They’re a good team. We feel like we’re a good team as well, so just kind of taking that challenge, accepting that challenge that we hadn’t got them yet,” guard Immanuel Quickley expressed. “It had been a while, so this was a good one to get.”
Also, Julius Randle contributed with 24 points and nine rebounds, RJ Barret returned to his best form with 21 points and Quickley appeared off the bench to deliver 20 points.
“We had a lot of guys in double figures and a lot of assists,” Immanuel added. “It was fun to play like that when everybody is moving and touching [the ball]. I think our defense really bled into our offense, so that has got to be the way every night.”
The Knicks were able to stop star duo Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard, who each hit 32 points for the Bucks. Even though Khris Middleton also added 24 to his team’s tally, Milwaukee lost their second game of the month.
“We knew coming in everything that we were lined up for and it is what it is,” Dame lamented. “We got the first one, we came in for this one, they got off to a good start, they played a great game and we just got outplayed.”
Coach Tom Thibodeau praised his team for reaching the right “energy level” on Christmas Day
New York hadn’t been playing their best basketball this month of December and it even seemed unlikely that they could beat Milwaukee who were averaging 132.4 points this month. However, coach Tom Thibodeau recognized his team was inspired this Christmas Day, and entered the game with the right “energy level.”
“I just thought the energy level was back to where it needed to be,” the Knicks trainer said after his star Brunson went 15 for 28 from the field and even followed up games of 45 and 36 points against the Bucks so far this season.
Milwaukee coach Adrian Griffin, on the other hand, saw his team have difficulties to reach 40 points in the first half. They finally did with four minutes remaining in the second quarter, but these struggles were consistent throughout the contest as they trailed by 16 points late in the game.
“I thought they out-competed us today for the most part,” he explained postgame. “I thought offensively we got some good looks, but we just couldn’t knock them down. And when you’re on the road, you get clean looks, you’ve got to knock them down.”
