Defending Champion Knicks Start 0-3, and Jalen Brunson Says It Falls on Him

Defending Champion Knicks Fall to 0-3 After Blowing a Lead to Orlando

New York lost 111-102 to the Magic at Madison Square Garden on Sunday, its third straight defeat, per ESPN. The Knicks led by 10 with 9:20 left and then allowed 40 fourth-quarter points. Franz Wagner scored 21 of his 23 in the fourth, and Jalen Brunson led New York with 28 points on 12-of-28 shooting, including 1-of-7 from 3.

Everything falls on my shoulders.

ESPN reported the Knicks shot 9-for-38 (23.7%) from 3 and entered the day 29th in offensive efficiency. Coach Mike Brown said the team lacks crispness and physicality in the frontcourt, and when asked whether the team looked a step slow, he said yes. The last defending champion to open 0-3 was Dallas in 2011-12, which won its fourth game, ESPN noted.

Knicks Offense Struggles: Our Read

• Shooting is the loudest problem and the least stable. A 23.7% night from deep, after poor shooting in the first two games, may partly be variance. A team with this much shot-making history tends to drift back toward its norm.
• The fourth-quarter collapses look like habit. Brunson himself said the team gets comfortable after good runs. Blowing a 10-point lead is a repeated pattern in his description, which is more worrying than a cold shooting night.
• The sample is tiny. Three games is too few to call the champions flawed, and ESPN noted the Knicks showed flashes against Philadelphia, Boston and Orlando. Still, the coach's candor suggests the concerns are real.
• Detroit is a hard place to restart. The Pistons are 3-0 and beat the Knicks in the 2025-26 regular season, per ESPN, so Tuesday tests the response Brunson asked for.

Our reading is that the early record overstates the damage and the effort comments understate it. Both can be true.

What to Watch Tuesday Night

• Whether New York's transition defense improves after Brown flagged it in the first half.
• Whether the Knicks hold a lead into the fourth quarter against Detroit.
• Whether 3-point shooting moves back toward the team's usual level.
• Any rotation change at center after Brown pulled Andre Drummond on Sunday.

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