Karl-Anthony Towns piled up 32 points, 11 rebounds and five assists, and the New York Knicks returned home from a four-game road trip to rout the Milwaukee Bucks 116-94 on Friday.
The Knicks wasted little time pouncing on Milwaukee, which was completing a home-road back-to-back. The Bucks ended a six-game losing streak by blowing out Utah on Thursday, but they fell behind by a double-digit margin midway through the first quarter on Friday.
New York, which never trailed, led by as many as 28 points. Towns scored hit 12 of 20 shots from the floor — including 4-of-8 from 3-point range – and the Knicks gave him plenty of support.
All five New York starters scored in double figures, including Mikal Bridges with 17 points and Jalen Brunson with 15. Brunson also dished nine assists.
Josh Hart and OG Anunoby had strong all-around performances. Hart scored 11 points, grabbed nine rebounds and passed for seven assists.
Anunoby chipped in 14 points, six rebounds, five assists, three steals and two blocks. New York had assists on 35 of their 43 field goals.
Off the bench, Miles McBride added 14 points and Tyler Kolek eight.
On defense, the Knicks held Milwaukee stars Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard to fewer points than season averages. Antetokounmpo, who was averaging 31 points per game coming in, finished with 24 points on Friday. He also grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds and blocked two shots.
Lillard, who entered averaging 28.4 points per game, had scored at least 34 in each of the Bucks’ previous three contests before finishing with 19 in New York. He went 0-of-4 on 3-point attempts, part of a team-wide shaky night shooting from long distance (7 of 30).
No other Milwaukee scorer reached double figures. AJ Green notched all nine of his points off the bench on 3-of-6 shooting from long range.