It takes two for this New York Knicks thing to go right, and those same two have put a win out of sight for the Milwaukee Bucks.

New York played as announced in a brief return to Madison Square Garden: Karl-Anthony Towns tallied his seventh straight double-double and Jalen Brunson didn’t get to join him on the way to a 116-94 win over the Milwaukee Bucks.

Towns, a 32-point, 11-rebound scorer, set the tone for the Knicks, scoring 11 of the first 17 points in a game they never trailed. He ended up scoring 27 in the first half alone and praised fellow Metropolitan headliner Jalen Brunson for his assist in a postgame interview with MSG Networks’ Alan Hahn.

“It’s people like Cap,” Towns said, cutting himself short Brunson’s captaincy. “Cap just put me in positions to succeed, our teammates, and it was great. It’s just that we’re closer to each other. It’s a testament to the coaching staff, a testament to Cap, to all the starters, to everyone on this team. being professionals and we all find a way to find wins for this team.”

Brunson has struggled somewhat to maintain the near-MVP form that was on display last season, but he turned in one of his livelier efforts of the new year on Friday, with the point guard dishing out a game-best nine assists, which helped create nearly half of Towns’ final tally of 14. Brunson started the game cold 2-of-9 (including 0-of-5 from three-point range) but hit four of the final five to help the Knicks (4-4) secures a big lead that reached 30.

Brunson admitted he “(wasn’t) happy with his start to the season, but he drew praise from Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau, per Zach Braziller of the New York Post.

“I thought he had a great game” praised Thibodeau. “He didn’t have a great pace on the ball, but he did other things: nine assists, no turnovers, creates easy baskets, plays with an edge. Some nights you may not shoot well, but there are many other things you can. can do to help your team win, I felt he did that.

Brunson and Towns will have a chance to build more momentum late Sunday afternoon when they face the Indiana Pacers on the road (5 p.m. ET, MSG).

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