Updated: Saturday, 21 Jan 2012, 11:50 AM CST
Published : Saturday, 21 Jan 2012, 11:50 AM CST
NEW YORK (AP) - Brandon Jennings scored a season-high 36 points, and the Milwaukee Bucks won on the road for the first time this season by beating the New York Knicks 100-86 Friday night.
The Bucks won for the sixth time in their last seven trips to New York, where they played better than a Knicks team that has lost five straight overall and heard frequent boos after turning the ball over or missing shots right at the rim all night.
Milwaukee snapped a three-game overall skid and improved to 1-8 on the road. The Bucks dominated the second half behind Jennings, who loves to make the Knicks pay for passing on him with the No. 8 pick in the 2009 draft.
Carmelo Anthony scored 35 points for the Knicks before he was ejected with 1:33 left after picking up his second technical foul of the game. The Knicks finished behind the 89 points they averaged in the first four games of the skid.
Shaun Livingston added a season-high 18 points for the Bucks in his first start of the season in place of shooting guard Stephen Jackson, who was benched after missing the morning shootaround.
Jennings scored 17 points in the first half, then really toyed with the Knicks in the third quarter. A livid Knicks coach Mike D'Antoni came well onto the floor after calling timeout to scream at point guard Toney Douglas for something after Milwaukee scored to open a 10-point lead, and then Jennings blew it open.
He had two jumpers and two dunks during an 11-2 run, stealing the ball cleanly from behind from an unsuspecting Douglas on one of the dunks, as Milwaukee extended its lead to 78-62 with 2:13 left in the third.
The Knicks' only home victory against Milwaukee in the last 3½ seasons was on Feb. 23 in Anthony's first game after being traded from Denver, when it would have seemed impossible to think the Knicks would be so inept offensively. And with the Nuggets coming in Saturday at 11-5, it seems possible the blockbuster trade was a mistake on the Knicks' part.
The deal, along with waiving Chauncey Billups in December to make salary room to acquire Tyson Chandler, left New York with little offensive firepower beyond Anthony and Amare Stoudemire. Both continue to struggle, with Stoudemire hearing loud boos after missing one easy putback in the second half, and there is just nobody else to pick up the slack.
The Knicks have been held below 100 points in seven straight games, tying their worst stretch since D'Antoni became their coach.
The Bucks got back Mike Dunleavy and Luc Mbah a Moute from injuries, but really all they needed in this one was Jennings.
Milwaukee opened a quick nine-point lead in the first quarter before settling for a 27-23 edge. Jennings, who went two spots after New York took the long-departed Jordan Hill in 2009, then scored 12 in the second quarter, getting a rebound of his own miss and putting it back for a 55-51 advantage at halftime.
Notes: Jennings made six 3-pointers. ... Washington (0-6) is the NBA's lone winless road team. ... The Knicks also went seven straight games without 100 points from Dec. 15-27, 2009, according to STATS, LLC. ... Though Jackson referred to his benching as a suspension, it technically wasn't because he's not losing a game's pay. He will likely be fined, the penalty that he assumed came with missing shootaround. Asked about his disappointment in having to sit out in New York, he said: "Of course I want to play, regardless whether it's New York, Africa, Tibet. I don't (care) where it is. I want to play."
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