The Knicks halt their losing streak against the Bucks with a strong Christmas game.

The Knicks halt their losing streak against the Bucks with a strong Christmas game.

Tom Thibodeau along with his team don’t need any gifts for Christmas this year. Each other and their fans got the best present on Monday. The Bucks, who are in the running for the title, lost.

The Knicks saved their best game of the season for this holiday show, beating Milwaukee in front of a packed Garden to end a nine-game losing run.

The Knicks beat the Bucks 129–122 at Madison Square Garden two days after Giannis Antetokounmpo, Damian Lillard, and the Bucks dominated the game.

The big four of Jalen Brunson, Julius Randle, RJ Barrett, as well as Immanuel Quickley were all at the top of their game, and the Knicks’ defense limited one of the best offenses in the league.

We put in more energy and effort, and it showed because we made a lot more shots than in the last game. “I did,” Barrett said. He scored 21 points on the 8 of 14 shots, up from 13 points on 5 of 17 shots on Saturday.

“Just the drive and fight. We’ve already lost three times to them, so getting this one today, on Christmas, makes it even better.

All four of the Knicks’ players scored 103 points, with Brunson scoring 38 points, dishing out six assists, and not turning the ball over. The Knicks (17-12) finally stopped Milwaukee from three-point range.

The Bucks made 54.1 percent of their three-point shots in the first three games this season against the Magic. They averaged 19.7 made threes and scored 128.7 points per game.

This meeting was different. Lillard, Antetokounmpo, or Khris Middelton all scored 88 points, but the rest of their teammates had a tough game.

“Today I think we should have been a little more physical in everything we do,” Brunson said.

“We had to be more focused; our closeouts had to be better; we had to run out to people in line better; we had to communicate better; everything.”

Today, I think that moved in the right way. I believe we could have done a better job of making them miss as well.

The win was the Knicks’ first over one of the two power teams in the Eastern Conference in seven attempts.

It was their first win over the Celtics or Bucks since November 5, 2021, when they beat them for the first time.

When Brunson made a shot in the lane with 1:11 left, the lead went back to eight points. He celebrated with a fist pump, which wasn’t something he usually did.

I liked that we were ahead and that we were able to hold on to that lead no matter the extent they tried to cut it down.

“It meant a lot because we had a hard time against them all year, so the win today is extra special,” Brunson said.

Josh Hart had 10 points, 9 boards, and 4 assists, so he was great on both ends. The Bucks came out strong after halftime, even though they were down 11 points.

So, the New York Knicks took a stand against Milwaukee in front of a sold-out home crowd and people across the country to watch on TV.

Isaiah Hartenstein scored 11 points, grabbed 8 rebounds, and gave out 4 assists. Taj Gibson played 15 minutes and grabbed 3 rebounds, blocked 3 shots, and gave out 3 assists.

Cleveland’s seven-game winning streak was broken by the Knicks, who beat the Bucks 129–122 on Monday. Jalen Brunson made 38 points in the win.

The Knicks had lost nine straight games against the Heat, including the first game of this two-game set on Saturday, 130–111.

While the Bucks were rolling through December, they beat New York twice. But they haven’t been able to stop Brunson throughout the year, and this time, the point guard had a lot of help from his teammates.

“They work well together. They said, “We think we’re a good team too, so we just kind of took that challenge and accepted that challenge since we hadn’t gotten them yet.” “It had been a while, consequently this was a good one to get.”