As the Knicks hit the midway point of their season Monday night, they paid tribute to their first half by going hot and cold across 48 minutes.
That meant taking a 17-point lead by the third quarter before watching it slip away by the opening minutes of the fourth.
Jrue Holiday then delivered a pair of daggers in the final minute, sinking a 3-pointer and another long jumper to help lift the Bucks to a 111-107 win over the Knicks at the Garden.
The loss snapped the Knicks’ four-game winning streak on a night when Jalen Brunson’s 44 points were not enough. The Knicks (22-19) hit the halfway point of the season on a down note after their previous 17 games featured an eight-game winning streak followed by a five-game losing streak followed by a four-game winning streak.
After the Knicks led by as many as 17 points in the third quarter, the Bucks made a run to get within five entering the fourth. Then they needed just 2:34 to take the lead, draining three straight 3-pointers to pull ahead 82-81 — their first lead since the 9:47 mark of the second quarter.
The teams mostly traded buckets for the next eight minutes, with the game tied at 97 with two minutes left before Holiday left his mark — a 3-pointer that put the Bucks up 103-99 with 47.1 seconds left and a contested jumper that extended the lead to 105-101 with 29.1 seconds to go.
The Knicks came out cold, missing their first seven shots from the floor and falling behind 10-2. But they got an early gift as Holiday, the Bucks’ defensive stalwart, picked up his third foul just 4:28 into the game, sending him to the bench.
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Soon after, Brunson quickly put the Knicks on his back. The point guard poured in 18 of the Knicks’ 22 points in the first quarter, allowing them to head into the second tied 22-22.
They did so despite recording zero assists through the first 12 minutes and Julius Randle — who had mostly been crushing first quarters of late — shooting just 1-for-12 from the field, including 0-for-8 from beyond the arc. It was a stark contrast from Friday night in Toronto, when Randle drained five 3-pointers and had 19 points in the first quarter alone.
Immanuel Quickley then took the baton from Brunson in the second quarter, scoring the Knicks’ first six points and going on to drop 13 points in the quarter. He bookended a 7-1 run with a 3-pointer and a pair of free throws that helped the Knicks create some separation before going into halftime up 51-46.
Giannis Antetokounmpo was mostly quiet for the first half, finishing with just nine points (on four field goals) and six rebounds.
Randle finally drained his first 3-pointer of the game on the Knicks’ first possession of the third quarter. He followed with an old-fashioned three-point play on the next possession to stretch the Knicks’ lead to 57-48.
Quickley then scored five straight points to spark a 13-1 run as the Knicks opened up a 70-53 lead.
But the Bucks made a charge back into the game to close out the third quarter, using a 10-0 run to end the quarter on a 13-2 stretch to pull within 78-73 heading to the fourth.
