NEW YORK _ Giannis Antetokounmpo, all seven feet of him, hurtled down the court with the ball, a mix of gazelle and rhino in the open court.
Marcus Morris' only chance to stop an easy bucket was to wrap up Antetokounmpo under the basket. And he tried. Morris, who might be the strongest Knick at 240 pounds, threw his arms at the Greek Freak and they bounced off like pool noodles.
It became an easy and-one lay-up in the second quarter. The contact had zero impact. The Knicks provided similarly little resistance to the Bucks in Saturday night's 123-102 defeat.
Antetokounmpo, the reigning MVP and favorite to win again this season, was the focus of the Knicks' attention and he still managed a triple-double. They crowded Antetokounmpo when he had the ball, so he drove and dished to open teammates on the perimeter. He wasn't a spectacular scorer, but he didn't need to be while dropping 22 points, 11 boards and 10 assists.
In fact, the victory was such a breeze that Antetokounmpo played just 26 minutes and took just 10 shots.
The Bucks (26-4) are the best team in the NBA and flexed their muscles in Madison Square Garden. Knicks interim coach Mike Miller tweaked the lineup by starting Elfrid Payton at point guard over Frank Ntilikina. It didn't help. The Knicks trailed by 17 points after four minutes and never recovered. It dropped them to 7-23 on this lost season, representing their second blowout defeat in consecutive nights after also getting smoked Friday night in Miami. At least it was an improvement from earlier this month, when the Bucks beat the Knicks by 44.
The Knicks were led by 20 points from Julius Randle, whose night would be better summed up by turning the ball over in the third quarter and not running back to contest Milwaukee's layup on the other end.
Beyond being the best player in the Eastern Conference, Antetokounmpo brought intrigue as the new shiny upcoming free agent for Knicks fans to dream about. The 25-year-old, who can become an unrestricted free agent in 2021 if he doesn't sign a contract extension with the Bucks, was cheered louder than Knicks players during introductions.
Fans even cheered Antetokounmpo's brother Thanasis when he entered the game in garbage time. Knicks fans are accustomed to the recruiting process.
