Milwaukee Bucks crush the New York Knicks thanks to huge first quarter
The Milwaukee Bucks (3-5) dropped 41 points in the first quarter and never looked back as they crushed the New York Knicks (3-4) 107-80 on Tuesday 9 October at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee.
Second-year player Brandon Jennings sparked the Bucks’ hot start, scoring 12 of his 19 points in the first quarter, where the Bucks outscored the Knicks by 22 points to build an early
lead. Jennings added five rebounds and six assists on a night where seven Bucks players scored in double-digits. Drew Gooden had 17 points and eight rebounds while Corey Maggette and Ersan Ilyasova had 14 and 12 points off the bench, respectively. Three other
players – Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, Andrew Bogut, and Early Boykins – chipped in with 10 points apiece.
Apart from 19 points from power forward Amar’e Stoudemire, the Knicks didn’t get much production from the rest of the team. Point guard Raymond Felton scored 10 points and dished out eight
assists while Wilson Chandler scored 11 points off the bench.
The Knicks were beaten in almost every statistical category last night on their way to the blowout. They shot 38 per cent from the field while the Bucks shot 51 per cent and made only
26 per cent of their three-point attempts while the Bucks shot 31 per cent from deep. The Knicks lost the rebounding battle 45-34 and had 20 turnovers versus 13 for the Bucks.
The game was never in doubt thanks to the lopsided first quarter, where the Bucks connected on 13 of their first 15 shots. The closest the Knicks came the rest of the way was when they
went on an 8-0 run in the third quarter to cut the lead to 71-57 with just over two minutes remaining in the third. But Milwaukee countered with a 19-10 run to end the third frame, entering the final quarter with a 90-67 lead, one which they wouldn’t relinquish.
What they said
Bucks coach Scott Skiles didn’t have anything bad to say about his team’s performance as every player seemed to contribute to the lopsided victory.
"It is hard to find anything negative to say about anybody tonight," he said. "Brandon was very aggressive and got us off to a great start. Everyone who stepped on the floor played well
for us tonight."
Jennings knew he was going up against a second-grade defence in the Knicks and took full advantage.
"I felt like I had to be a little more aggressive tonight," he said. "Going against the Knicks, you are playing a team that gets out and runs and they kind of lack on the defensive end.
You have to take advantage of that."
Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni said his team never recovered from Milwaukee’s hot start.
"Jennings came out and hit a couple 3s and put us on our heels and we never could get it going after that," he said.
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