The New York Knicks entered the fourth quarter against the Milwaukee Bucks with a 14-point lead. The Greek Freak made it all go away.
- Milwaukee Bucks 105 (18-16)
- New York Knicks 104 (16-19)
- NBA, Final, Box Score
- Madison Square Garden, New York, NY
Giannis Antetokounmpo‘s name is tough to pronounce. The legend Walt “Clyde” Frazier butchered it all night long. Instead, the 22-year-old goes by a nickname inspired by his home country: “The Greek Freak.”
On Wednesday night in Madison Square Garden, Antetokounmpo lived up his nickname. He led his Milwaukee Bucks on a ferocious fourth quarter comeback shattering the Knicks 14-point lead before burying a fadeaway jumper at the buzzer to put a dagger in the home team.
Giannis hits buzzer-beater to sink the Knicks pic.twitter.com/tDim57DfKT
— Tommy Beer (@TommyBeer) January 5, 2017
Giannis scored 12 points in the fourth quarter (27 total) on 6-7 from the free throw line. The Knicks had no answer when he put his head down and drove to the basket. Twenty of his twenty-seven points were scored either in the paint or at the free-throw line.
New York started the second half on a 16-5 run and outscored Milwaukee 35-21 in the third quarter. It looked like the game was over.
Carmelo Anthony scored 14 of his 30 points in the third on 6-10 shooting. He had one of his best games of the season, adding 11 rebounds and 7 assists.
But once again the Knicks couldn’t execute down the stretch. They committed foolish fouls and became stagnant on offense at the worst time.
After the game, the Knicks were understandably upset over their tough defeat.
Derrick Rose had an inbounds pass deflected off his leg out of bounds with less than ten seconds remaining in which he appeared to be fouled. He took a not-so-veiled shot at the referees for ignoring the obvious.
Derrick Rose on the Giannis Antetokounmpo pass deflection late in the 4th: "They don't give me any calls, so I guess I lost the game."
— Ian Begley (@IanBegley) January 5, 2017
Anthony called out the refs as well, saying that Giannis violated the league’s five-second back-to-the-basket rule on his game-winning shot. When was the last time you saw that called?
Carmelo Anthony referenced this rule after the game when he said, "I thought he had the ball for seven, eight seconds in his hand." https://t.co/gt54Kd4NgN
— Ian Begley (@IanBegley) January 5, 2017
Maybe Rose should’ve gotten a foul call, and maybe Giannis violated the lesser known five-second rule, but this game never should’ve come down to the last possession in the first place.
The Knicks had a 14-point lead entering the fourth quarter, and they let the Bucks back into it.
Melo summed up tonight’s game perfectly.
Carmelo Anthony: "I think we gave this one away. Tough one to swallow."
— Ian Begley (@IanBegley) January 5, 2017
