The real Elfrid Payton, please stand up?
One night after the titular owner of the Knicks performed his worst as a Knick in a goalless disaster, he emerged on Sunday to strike the mighty Bucks in a 130-110 attack that gave Tom Thibodeau his first victory as head coach of the Knicks.
It was not a dream. Payton, whose slow start to the season had social media stirred by his bank, actually accumulated 26 points, hitting all three of his 3 and hitting 12 out of 16.
Payton also gave three assists. His last two points in the third essentially salted the game. Payton’s biggest weakness is his misery beyond the bow, as he hit just 21% of last season’s depths.
Payton was not the only Knick who looked like a new man when “The Greek Freak” won a pile of humble pie at the Garden. Even Sunday’s reserve guard Frank Ntilikina stepped off the bench to punch all four of his three-point shots.
RJ Barrett also left Saturday’s clunkfest behind with 17 points. And Julius Randle continued his stellar game (27 points, 14 rebounds and seven assists) and was not ashamed to defend Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo, who was eliminated early in the fourth period in a sign of surrender.
Too bad Garden was bleak, as this could be one of the few highlights of the season, as the Knicks moved to 1-2 after double-digit defeats to Indiana and Philadelphia, in which they crashed in the second half.
Instead, Sunday’s Knicks only got better in the second half, accumulating a 28-point bulge at the start of the fourth half, after taking a 61-45 lead in the interval.
Antetokounmpo was “maintained” with 25 points, 13 rebounds and five assists, while the Knicks broke their streak of four straight losses against Milwaukee.
The Knicks will not play at the Garden again in 2020, as they begin a four-game trip starting Tuesday in Cleveland and continuing to Tampa for a New Year’s Eve battle against the Raptors before ending the trip in Indiana and Atlanta.
The Knicks managed an 11-0 streak at the end of the first half which was crowned by a 3-point basket from Alec Burks. So Randle buried an imbalanced 3 points in the last second while the Knicks took the lead by 16 points in the interval.
It was an exciting recovery performance for Payton and Barrett, who were terrible at their home debut against the Sixers. Burks also came off the bench to drop 18 points – 15 in the first half.
The tough Payton went goalless on Saturday night, going 0 out of 6 and losing all 3 points when receiving just one assist.
Sunday, Payton, hit two floaters early, then drained a rare 3-point. In the interval, he won 11 points and three assists.
The play-by-play was a disaster against the Sixers, but it spectacularly straightened up against Milwaukee. With Dennis Smith Jr. eliminated with an injured quadriceps, Ntilikina inherited the role of reserve guard and made 18 strong minutes off the bench when he hit the target – 4 of 4 on the 3-point line.
Barrett was a bigger disaster than Payton Saturday at 2 out of 15 brickfest. He remained aggressive and made way for his points on Sunday.
Antetokounmpo scored in the first possession, receiving a jump pass from Khris Middletown and placing it. But the Knicks mainly controlled the “Greek Freak”, preventing it from destroying the rim.
The Bucks was also a horrendous 8 out of 38 on the 3-point line. The Knicks jolted a poor 3-point shooting performance on Saturday to punch 15 of 26 against Milwaukee.
“The most important thing is the way he attacks painting,” said Thibodeau of the Bucks star. “You cannot protect him individually – we have to protect him with our team. So it will take a lot of effort, a lot of effort. “
The effort this time lasted four quarters.