The “Deer” were under pressure for three and a half minutes against the New Yorkers and showed that they are influenced by the hard play of the Knicks. However, a breakout from John in the fourth period proved enough for Milwaukee to claim the win.

Giannis Antitokoumbo at 38 points with 12/19 shots (2/6 threes), 12/16 shots, 13 rebounds, 5 assists and 1 steal pointed the way for another night for the Bucks, with Jru Holliday adding 24 points and Chris Middleton 20 points.

With the Knicks, Evan Fournier had 25 points and RJ Barrett had 20 points (but shooting 6/20), while Julius Randle stayed at 9 points and 11 rebounds.

At 31-20 stands the record for the Bucks, who continue to fight to climb the East’s rankings, at 23-27 for the Knicks, who remain in 10th place.

Next game for the Bucks in the early hours of Monday morning (2:00 a.m.) with the Denver Nuggets back in Milwaukee.

The race

When Giannis came in furious and scored 9 points, the Bucks opened the game by going 15-10. The Knicks immediately reduced to 18-17, but Milwaukee was unaffected and gradually built a difference, going 37-27 before ending the first third 39-30, with Giannis already 13 points with 6/6- shot had (1/1 three points) and Jro Holliday had 8 points with 3/3 shot (2/2 three points).

The second period began with Nerlen’s Noel committing a hard foul on Giannis (charged as a flagrant 1), with the Bucks going 44-30, 57-42 and at that point 8/15 with three points. The Knicks responded, however, with their leaders Grimes and Barrett reducing to 57-51, while a little later Randle’s first basket of the game reduced them to 62-58. At the same time, Giannis conceded 3 fouls within 2 minutes, as a result of which he passed the bench, clearly annoyed. And the Knicks capitalized on that, cutting to 64-63, but with Conaton going for a buzzer-beater three-pointer for 67-63 late in the first half.

In the third period the derby continued, with the Knicks closing the gaps well into Giannis while also scoring as much in attack as needed to stay close to goal. Still, Milwaukee eventually escaped 77-70 thanks to Holindee’s accumulated points, but the Knicks didn’t back down and Fournier kept throwing solutions to reduce to 83-82. However, they didn’t capitalize on the opportunities they had to move forward as Milwaukee finished the third third earlier 93-88 and Antetokunbo scored 26 points.

Early in the fourth period, the Bucks saw Giannis take it…personally and score 7 straight points, helping them go 102-93 away. That was followed by a three-pointer from Allen after an incredible pass from John for 105-94, three shots from Middleton for 108-94 and a new three-pointer from Middleton for 113-97 and things seem to be going their way.

However, the Knicks didn’t give up and reduced with a series from 0:8 to 113:105. Somewhere there, however, Giannis intervened again and scored 5 straight points to make the score 118-105 with 1 minute left in the game. The game was decided, the Bucks finally emptied their bank and celebrated their 31st win of the year.

THE TWELVE MINUTES: 39-30, 67-63, 93-88, 123-108

MILGUOKI BUKS (Mike Budenholzer): Antetokunbo 38 (2/6 three points, 13 rebounds, 5 assists), Middleton 20 (7/18 shots, 1/7 three points, 7 rebounds), Portis 5 (2/10 shots, 1/5 3 points, 6 rebounds), Holiday 24 (4 3s, 5 rebounds, 10 assists), Allen 15 (3 3s, 7 rebounds), Mamukelasvili 3 (1), Th. (1 point, 5 rebounds), DiVincenzo 4, Wiggitton

NEW YORK KNICS (Tom Tibondo): Randle 9 (11 rebounds), Robinson 7 (6 rebounds), Walker 8 (5 rebounds, 7 assists), Fournier 25 (5 3-pointers, 7 rebounds), Barrett 23 (6/20 shots, 3 3 points), Topin 5, Noel 5 (5 rebounds), Berks 10 (2), Quickley 5 (1), Grimes 11 (3)

Milwaukee Bucks team stats: 27/46 two points, 14/43 three points, 27/31 shots, 47 rebounds, 27 assists, 11 steals, 1 interception, 12 errors

New York Knicks team stats: 25/44 two points, 14/40 three points, 45 rebounds, 21 assists, 6 steals, 4 blocks, 14 errors