Make New York Post a Preferred Source The Knicks handled business.
They stepped on the throats of an overmatched opponent early Tuesday night and never let go of the squeeze, pummeling the Bucks 117-85 at MSG.
It represented a fourth straight win for the Knicks (6-4), whose 0-3 stumble to start their title defense is firmly in the rearview mirror.
Jalen Brunson led the scoring with 23 points on 18 shots and Karl-Anthony Towns grabbed 16 boards with 21 points.
It was Towns’ 10th straight double-double to start the season, one off the franchise record set by Willis Reed in 1970.
The Knicks benefited from a balanced attack, with OG Anunoby adding 19 points in 29 minutes.
But again, the Knicks rode their stout defense. They held the sad-sack Bucks (1-10) to 38 percent shooting.
Their past five opponents all scored fewer than 100 points, a rare streak in the 3-point era.
The game felt over by halftime, when the Knicks were up by 24 and the Bucks had only 34 points.
The Knicks led the rebounding battle 34-17 at the break, and ended the night with a staggering 70 boards.
Milwaukee cut the deficit to 13 in the third quarter, but never got it to single digits in the second half. The Knicks stomped Milwaukee in the fourth quarter, 32-13.
The Knicks were without Josh Hart for a third consecutive game.
He was out with an illness after missing the first two games because of ankle soreness.
Landry Shamet again started in Hart’s spot and scored 10 points in 28 minutes.
New York also got solid bench contributions. Tyler Kolek continued to play over Jose Alvarado and finished with 12 points, four assists and a block.
During Kolek’s 15 minutes, the Knicks outscored the Bucks by 23 points. They were actually better with Miles McBride on the floor. The backup guard was a plus-39 in 25 minutes.
The Bucks are a disaster this season after trading Giannis Antetokounmpo to the Heat. It didn’t help that their leading scorer — Tyler Herro — missed Tuesday night’s game because of a knee contusion.
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Myles Turner, who is in the middle of a $109 million contract, was a lazy disaster with three points on 1-for-7 shooting while getting roasted on defense by Towns.
The Knicks play again Wednesday at MSG versus the Cavaliers in the second night of a back-to-back.
