MILWAUKEE — Call it the LeBron James Hangover.
Or maybe just call it the 2009-10 Knicks — the NBA’s worst team outside New Jersey.
One night after James and the Cavaliers pummeled them, one night after The King said he only wants to join a winner next July, the Knicks were at their despicable worst. They were blown out, 102-87, by the mediocre Bucks at Bradley Center, falling behind by 36 points early in the third period, falling to 1-6 on the season and falling apart though it’s only November.
Coach Mike D’Antoni pressed the panic button afterward, saying it’s time for “soul searching” after benching point guard Chris Duhon. The anger was palpable in the Knicks locker room.
“We’re all stunned,” D’Antoni said. “I’ve taken a licking before, but I don’t know [if there have been any] worse than that. We’re in the midst of questioning everything in our minds.
“We’re a step slow in everything. They get into us and we’re four steps behind. During the game we do find it, but then we’re down 30. I’m concerned about a lot of things and rightly so.”
This was a loss that could have put D’Antoni on the firing line if he wasn’t locked in for four years and a recruiting magnet for James in 2010.
The Knicks fell behind the Bucks by 31 points at halftime and humiliated the once-proud uniform with a pathetic defensive outing. The Bucks sank open jumpers from all over Brew City and drove to the basket like it was a slam-dunk contest.
Maybe the scariest moment of Friday’s LeBron Game was James’ closing remark. James dropped an ominous message the Knicks’ way when talking about his free agency, which comes on July 1.
“At the end of the day, a max deal doesn’t really matter,” James said. “It is all about winning to me. When that day comes next summer, I want to win. If I feel like the team is capable of winning, then I will make my decision based on that.”
The Knicks continued to greatly disappoint James last night. It was 40-22 after the first quarter, a one-point improvement over Friday, when the Cavs led 40-21 after one at The Garden.
The struggling Duhon was so wretched, D’Antoni benched him for the rest of the game 2:23 into the third quarter after he had his shot blocked, was beaten on a backdoor and coughed up the ball. Duhon finished with one point and three turnovers.
To add insult to injury on the point-guard front, rookie Brandon Jennings, whom the Knicks passed on with the eighth pick in June’s draft, finished with 17 points and three assists in 26 minutes, showing a dazzling burst. His driving layup midway through the third gave the Bucks their biggest lead, 73-37.
“He had every right to take me out,” said a shaken Duhon. “These are plays I’m supposed to make. One of those stretches where it seems everything’s going wrong.”
This wasn’t James beating them to a pulp. This was second-round rookie Jodie Meeks dominating, outscoring every Knick with 19 points. Meeks, who played 20 minutes in his career prior to last night, was 4 of 4 from the 3-point line in the half and hit a buzzer-beating trey to end the first quarter.
“I don’t want to go in a lack-of-effort direction or a direction of guys not getting along,” David Lee said. “We got good guys on the team. Things aren’t coming to together and it’s very evident on the floor. We won the jump ball. After the jump ball, we got outplayed.”
The Bucks built a 48-22 lead with 10:18 left in the first half, shooting 74 percent to that juncture. The Knicks barely could convert passes with Duhon firing one off Al Harrington’s back. Harrington (1 of 7) and Wilson Chandler (1 of 10) combined to shoot 2 of 17.
The Knicks are missing the scoring and defensive peskiness of Nate Robinson, who has missed the last four games with a sprained ankle.
The collapse began midway through the first quarter, when the Bucks scored 10 straight points in a shocking two-minute span of Knicks ineptitude. Jennings busted down the lane for a layup over Lee. Ersan Ilyasova stole the ball from Lee and Andrew Bogut then fired a touchdown pass to Ilyasova for a fast-break dunk. On the inbound pass, Duhon’s pass was intercepted by Jennings, who fired in a pull-up jumper, giving the Bucks a 24-12 lead.
“I have no answers,” Lee said.