On the night the Knicks decided to pay tribute to the 40th Anniversary of their 1970 World Champion team, the current Knick team was kept under wraps by the Milwaukee Bucks.
This was a game of runs, spurts and droughts. The Bucks got off to a fast start they were up by 9, 15-6 with 6:05 left in the first quarter. They finished the quarter ahead 27-20.
They build the lead to ten early in the second quarter. They were up 39-30 with 7 minutes left until halftime. The Bucks went the next 5 and a half minutes without scoring a point. During that span, the Knicks only managed to go on a 6-0 run to cut the deficit to 3 at 39-36. Newly acquired Eddie House drained a trey to slice the lead to 2 at 43-41. The Bucks scored 4 unanswered points to go up 47-41 at the half.
Half time was longer than usual because the Knicks had a special ceremony to honor their 1970 World Championship team. They introduced all the players that are still living and if they were deceased then a family member was present in their place. It was a trip down memory lane. It was great to see the likes of Bill Bradley, Walt "Clyde" Frazier, Dick Barnett and Willis Reed to a few. After the introduction, Walt Frazier did a speech on behalf of that special team. It was vety touching to say the least for the fans who were on hand in the stands.
Apparently, it didn't have the carry over effect to the current squad who came out flat in the second half. The Bucks added to their halftime lead by scoring the first 4 points to build the advantage back to 10 at 51-41. The Knicks woke up with a 12-0 run of their own to take a brief 2 point lead at 53-51 then the Bucks tied the game at 53 with 5:38 left in the 3rd quarter. They proceeded to go on another 12-0 run. They wound up closing out the quarter up 63-55.
In the 4th quarter, the Bucks maintained their cushion and eventually pulled away winning the game by 16. They held the Knicks to 26 points in the second half.
Andrew Bogut lead the way with 24 points and he grabbed 20 rebounds as well. Brandon Jennings, the rookie sensation was held to only 4 points.
As for the Knicks, newcomer Tracy McGrady paced the Knicks with 15 points but only on 5 for 14 shooting.
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