The buzz was missing as was the lift in Tracy McGrady's creaky knees.
Game 2 of the Great McGrady Experiment suffered a setback as McGrady was forced to pull himself out midway through the fourth quarter of Milwaukee's 83-67 victory over the Knicks on the night the Willis Reed-led '69-'70 champs were saluted at the Garden.
McGrady, appearing in only his second game since Dec. 23 and his eighth since major left knee surgery 12 months ago, appeared to be struggling all night and was noticeably dragging his leg throughout the game.
His status for tonight's game in Boston remains up in the air, but it's hard to imagine McGrady being able to play back-to-back games and three in four nights. And at this point, does it really matter?
The Knicks have now lost seven straight and are 19-36 on the season. The fans who were cheering passionately for the Knicks and McGrady on Saturday were booing Mike D'Antoni's team off the court last night.
D'Antoni was hoping to give the Knicks a lift by benching Chris Duhon and making Sergio Rodriguez the starting point guard. Rodriguez did have seven steals but the Knicks were a mess offensively. They scored a season-low 67 points, just 26 in the second half.
Rodriguez finished with just one assist and shot 2-for-8 in 30 minutes. McGrady made five of 14 shots and scored 15 points. David Lee had 12 points and 13 rebounds but was manhandled by Andrew Bogut, who didn't make the All-Star team and took out his frustration on the Knicks' undersized center.
Bogut scored 24 points with 20 rebounds and five blocks as Milwaukee defeated the Knicks for the third time this season. The Bucks, guided by one of the league's best coaches in Scott Skiles, improved to 27-28. John Salmons, acquired last week from Chicago, added 15 points and Luc Mbah a Moute, who shut down McGrady, had 11 points and 11 rebounds.
D'Antoni decided Sunday to make Rodriguez the starter even though the Spanish import had a mixed debut with the Knicks on Saturday. He missed six of eights shots with two turnovers in the overtime loss to Oklahoma City.
More than anything, the move demonstrates how far Duhon has fallen since arriving in New York as D'Antoni's hand-picked successor to Stephon Marbury. D'Antoni had stuck with Duhon, signed on the recommendation of Mike Krzyzewski, his coach at Duke, through plenty of ups and downs. But it reached the point where the coach couldn't keep Duhon on the floor.
Duhon is shooting 34% in 53 games and his run in New York is all but over. He recorded a DNP last night.
Rodriguez gave the Knicks a lift on the defensive end, including two steals in the third quarter that sparked a 12-0 run. Wilson Chander's second straight layup gave the Knicks their first lead at 53-51. The Knicks were making it difficult for Milwaukee to get the ball inside to Bogut, who roughed up Lee in the first half for 18 points.
It wasn't until Milwaukee fell behind that it started to look for its center. With Lee on the bench with four fouls, Brandon Jennings set up Bogut for a pair of easy layups as the Bucks went ahead 59-53.
Milwaukee's lead was 63-55 entering the fourth, which began with McGrady on the bench. On Saturday, McGrady also was on the bench at the start of the final period and told D'Antoni to wait until the final five minutes before getting him back in.
Last night, D'Antoni was forced to get McGrady in the game with 7:30 remaining and the Knicks trailing 74-61.
