Third quarter run lifts New York to a win in Milwaukee

MILWAUKEE – The New York Knicks started the second half on an 18-4 run and knocked off the Milwaukee Bucks 120-112 Tuesday night at the Bradley Center.

Charlie Villanueva led the Bucks with 32 points and nine rebounds, and Ramon Sessions added 22 points, nine assists and six rebounds, but the Knicks second-half surge proved to be too much to overcome.

“They turned it up in the third quarter,” Bucks coach Scott Skiles said after the game. “They got competitive and got up into us. They started driving the ball and we didn’t have any competitive answer for it.”

Larry Hughes scored a season-high 39 points for New York, and Nate Robinson scored 32 points and dished seven assists off the bench.

David Lee finished with 19 points and 18 rebounds for the Knicks, giving him a league-leading 51 double-double’s this season. He scored the first seven points for New York to jump start its third quarter run.

When the Bucks defeated the Golden State Warriors on Saturday night, they were still a half-game back of the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference. Despite not playing since, Milwaukee regained the final playoff spot Monday night when Dwyane Wade nailed a buzzer-beating three-point shot to sink the Chicago Bulls. But tonight’s loss drops the Bucks back out of the playoff picture in the East.

“We didn’t play like we wanted to be in the playoffs,” Charlie Bell said after the game. “If we don’t turn it up we’re gonna be on the outside looking in.”

Bell played a team-high 40 minutes and scored 12 points off the bench for Milwaukee.

“We knew the importance of this game,” Villanueva added. “We shouldn’t allow that run that happened in the third. We came out not focused, didn’t have energy, and they took advantage of that.”

Villanueva scored the first eight points for the Bucks to start the game, but was benched after three minutes despite outscoring New York by himself at that point.

Milwaukee carried a nine point lead into the locker room at halftime, but the Knicks quickly turned that around, going up by seven following its third quarter run.

New York outscored the Bucks by 13 in the third quarter and took a four point lead into the final period, where Larry Hughes and Nate Robinson combined to score 25 of the Knicks 32 fourth quarter points.

“I thought the second half we finally got the intensity right,” Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni said. “We had 64 points in the second half because we picked it up and we ran. Obviously Larry (Hughes) and Nate (Robinson) were unbelievable, but David Lee really set the tone in the second half. A few dunks, great defense and playing as hard as he can.”

“We gotta learn from it and put this game behind us,” Villanueva said. “We still have a chance (at making the playoffs).”

Milwaukee fell short in its attempt to sweep the season series over New York. The Bucks have not swept the Knicks since the 1990-91 season.

In each of the previous three games between the two teams this season, Milwaukee held New York under 90 points, but the league’s fourth-highest scoring team shot over 47 percent tonight to defeat the Bucks.

“They deserved to win,” Skiles said. “They kicked our ass.”

Milwaukee plays game three of its season-long six-game home stand on Friday night at the Bradley Center against the New Orleans Hornets, quickly followed by a Noon tip-off on Sunday against the defending champion Boston Celtics.