Khris Middleton, Giannis Antetokounmpo power Bucks past Knicks
- Sports
- Reuters
- Published Date: 07:56 | 13 December 2021
- Modified Date: 07:57 | 13 December 2021
Khris Middleton scored 24 points and Giannis Antetokounmpo collected 20 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds to lift the visiting Milwaukee Bucks to a 112-97 win over the New York Knicks on Sunday.
Antetokounmpo earned his first triple-double since March 15. The two-time Most Valuable Player was in on each of Milwaukee's first nine points, scoring the game's first four then dishing assists to Middleton and Bobby Portis.
Portis recorded 19 points and 10 rebounds for the Bucks, who have won two in a row and 12 of their last 14 games.
Jrue Holiday had 13 points and five assists and Grayson Allen added 12 points to the Bucks' balanced attack. Rodney Hood and Pat Connaughton chipped in 14 and 10 points off the bench. Hood finished a perfect 5-of-5 shooting from the floor.
Middleton, scoring at least 20 points for a seventh consecutive game, shot 4-of-11 from 3-point range. Portis knocked down 3-of-7 from beyond the arc, while Allen, Hood and Connaughton each added two 3-pointers.
Quentin Grimes made seven 3-pointers to finish with 27 points for the Knicks. Kevin Knox II drained five shots from beyond the arc to highlight his 18-point performance.
Derrick Rose also had 18 points for New York, which outscored Milwaukee from beyond the arc -- going 17 of 49 to the Bucks' 14 of 41.
However, the Bucks had a 46-30 advantage for points in the paint, thanks in part to locking down New York post presence Julius Randle. He finished with just eight points on 2-of-9 shooting.
Milwaukee gave up just 18 made field goals from inside the 3-point arc in total, and held the Knicks to 15-of-23 shooting in the key. The Bucks went 23-of-33 in the paint.
Milwaukee led by double digits for much of the way, pushing the advantage to as many as 21 points.
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