New York Knicks superstar Jalen Brunson made all sorts of headlines after his Christmas Day masterclass against the Milwaukee Bucks — and rightfully so. The 6-foot-2 guard stole the show as he exploded for 38 points on 15-of-28 shooting, with four rebounds, six assists, a steal, and zero turnovers in 38 minutes of play.
The Bucks simply had no answer for Brunson in this one, who once again proved that he is one of the best point guards in the NBA today.
Milwaukee Bucks Star Giannis Antetokounmpo Speaks Out on Jalen Brunson’s Massive Performance
Giannis Antetokounmpo wasn’t bad either, scoring a team-high 32 points (tied with Damian Lillard), with 13 rebounds, and six assists. However, not even the former back-to-back MVP’s usual heroics were enough to lead the Bucks over the Knicks.
Antetokounmpo had to give Brunson his flowers after the game. However, the Bucks talisman also revealed that the Knicks star’s elite talent is something Milwaukee has learned to deal with:
“It’s difficult, but you have to live with that,” Antetokounmpo said of Brunson’s mid-range prowess, via Eric Nehm of The Athletic. “I’ve seen Brunson (score) 40, 35, 45 many times against us and we’ve beat them three times. And we’ve beat them in the past also. So you’re like, ‘OK, he’s going to score 40.’ RJ Barrett likes to shoot that floater, too. (Immanuel) Quickley likes to shoot that floater, too.”
“Like you know they’re going to go off, but nobody else is going to get involved, not going to shoot open 3s. They’re not going to get offensive rebounds. We’re going to try to eliminate all of that. But today, a combination of them shooting that and also going to the free throw line and also over helping, all together, that combination was not good for us. That’s why we were not able to win the game.”
It sounds like the Bucks were willing to let Brunson go off on another one of his offensive eruptions, which was far from the first time the 27-year-old torched Milwaukee. However, as Giannis said, Milwaukee was trapped in a perfect storm that was orchestrated by the Knicks on both ends of the floor.
Guys like Julius Randle (24 points, nine rebounds), RJ Barrett (21 points, six rebounds), and Immanuel Quickley (20 points on 7-of-10 shooting) all played their role in the win as well, as the Bucks failed to hold the Knicks trio down.
Ultimately, it ended in disaster for Giannis and Co.
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