Jalen Brunson did everything he could, but the other Knicks could not support the point guard in their 110-105 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks on Friday night.

Friday was also the first game for the Knicks in the inaugural in-season tournament.

Here are the takeaways….

- With RJ Barrett out for the second straight game with a sore knee, Josh Hart started Friday’s game alongside the usual starters Brunson, Julius Randle, Quentin Grimes and Mitchell Robinson.

Milwaukee raced off to a 11-2 run, including six quick points from Giannis Antetokounmpo, before Tom Thibodeau called his first timeout. After going 3-for-15 in Wednesday’s loss to the Cavaliers, Randle got off to a slow start after missing his first two jumpers, both three-point tries. He would find the bottom of the basket a couple of times, including a three, to get on the board as the Knicks rode two Grimes threes to cut the Bucks’ lead to one with five minutes to go in the opening frame. A 15-3 run, all while Giannis was on the bench, by the Knicks gave them a four-point lead.

In the early season, Milwaukee ranks 29th in the league in transition defense and it showed in the first quarter. The Knicks used their speed to get to open lanes and keep the Bucks off balance. However, the Bucks’ size got them back into the game as the Knicks had no answer for Giannis with Randle on the bench. Despite that, the Knicks finished the first quarter with a 25-21 lead.

- The second quarter was a tale of poor shooting for the Knicks. The team shot 29 percent (6-of-21), which allowed Milwaukee to take the lead and have it for the majority of the quarter. The Bucks would end the first half up 56-46, but it could have been worse. The saving grace for the Knicks in the first half were the offensive rebounds. They outrebounded Milwaukee 39-26 including 14-3 on the offensive boards. Brunson has been the best shooter for the Knicks, posting 16 points on 6-for-12 shooting in nearly 20 minutes of play. Randle scored 11 on 3-of-14 shooting in 20 minutes. Grimes was the only other Knick in double figures, scoring 11 points on 4-of-6 shooting including 3-of-5 from three.

Brook Lopez was a menace for Milwaukee, especially in the second quarter. The Bucks’ big man scored nine points on 3-of-9 shooting. All his made shots were from the three-point line, an area of the court Robinson had trouble defending. Overall, the Bucks were 8-of-11 from three in the second quarter.

- Brunson would lead the Knicks out of the break and to a 10-0 run to cut Milwaukee's lead to four with eight minutes to go. However, the Bucks' prolific three-point shooting built their lead back up as the Knicks' zone defense could not keep the open threes from falling.

Again, Brunson would lead the Knicks who pushed the pace against this Bucks defense to go on some mini runs but could never get the deficit lower than four points. One last run helped the Knicks close the third quarter down just 82-76. Brunson had a game-high 30 points on 11-for-19 shooting after three. But the Bucks' 53 percent (16-for-30) three-point shooting after three kept Milwaukee ahead.

- There was no stopping Brunson in the early minutes of the fourth as he made his mid-range jumpers and got to the basket at will. The Bucks answered the way they did all game long, with their threes but now Giannis started getting into the act as he made two straight three-pointers.

Immanuel Quickley, with Brunson taking a breather on the bench, took over the scoring duties, scoring four straight points to bring the Knicks within three points. The Knicks would have cut the lead further but Lopez was a one-man block party, not allowing the Knicks guards to get easy layups or dunks. Lopez had two blocks entering Friday's game but picked up seven in this game.

On the other end of the floor, the Knicks started to play sloppy defense and were over the foul limit with seven minutes remaining. Despite that, the Knicks would chip away with Randle getting more and more involved in the offense. Brunson's three with less than two minutes to go put the Knicks up 103-101, the team's first lead since the start of the second quarter.

That's when Damian Lillard took over. He hit a three and then hit an and-one on back-to-back possessions to put Milwaukee up 107-103. Some missed shots and more blocks from Lopez allowed Milwaukee to ice the game and win 110-105.

Brunson was phenomenal, scoring 45 points on 17-of-30 shooting. The other starters combined to go 13-for-44. Randle came alive a bit at the end of the game but finished 5-for-20 for 16 points, 12 rebounds and four assists.

Overall, the Bucks shot 51 percent (20-for-39) from three while the Knicks shot 26 percent (10-for-39) from downtown.

Here are the takeaways….

Highlights

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