The Milwaukee Bucks haven’t had a lot of answers during their 2-7 start. They especially had no answer for Karl-Anthony Towns Friday night.
KAT led all scorers with 32 points and the New York Knicks never trailed in their 116-94 win over the floundering Bucks. He’s now averaging 24.3 points and 12.8 rebounds. But he’s been so good this season that his rebounding and three-point percentage actually went down after an 11-rebound, 50-percent shooting night.
It was clear right away that the Bucks, consistently one of the NBA’s top defenses before last season, couldn’t stop Towns at all. He hit two threes in the game’s first two minutes, and when Bucks center Brook Lopez finally chased him out there, Towns drove to the rim and dunked on him.
Towns especially stood out in a game where both teams combined to shoot 27.6 percent from deep. Damian Lillard failed to make a single three for the second time this season and scored only four points in the second half. For the Knicks, starters Jalen Brunson, OG Anunoby and Mikal Bridges combined to go 4-of-24 from behind the arc.
Besides the presence of Towns, the biggest difference in this game was ball movement. Towns’ five assists were more than anyone on the Bucks besides Lillard, who had six, and he’s playing center. Brunson had nine dimes, Josh Hart had seven and Anunoby also had five. New York had 35 assists to Milwaukee’s 20, another symptom of the Bucks’ stagnant offense in 2024-25.
The Knicks had six players in double figures, while the Bucks had three. One of those Bucks, rookie Tyler Smith, scored all 10 of his points in the fourth quarter, entering the game with his team trailing by 28 points.
Even with two new starters in Towns and Bridges, the Knicks are starting to mesh as a team. For the Bucks, they’re still working out how to get Lillard and Giannis Antetokounmpo to mesh after a full season together.
