The New York Knicks still haven’t found the win column, and Sunday’s 111-102 loss to the Orlando Magic dropped them to 0-3 on the season. There were stretches early that looked promising enough, but by the time the second half rolled around, New York had few answers and even fewer clean possessions.
What makes the loss sting is that Orlando didn’t have Paolo Banchero, yet the Knicks still had trouble slowing Franz Wagner and Desmond Bane. The pair combined for 45 points, and New York never really found a reliable counter once the game started slipping away.
The first quarter gave the Knicks a reason to feel good. Their offense came out sharp, piling up 12 points in quick succession, while the defense held Orlando to 6-20 shooting in the period.
For a moment, it looked like New York had settled in. But the edge faded late in the quarter, and the Magic managed to claw back enough to stay in the game.
Offensively, the night was carried by the starters. Jalen Brunson struggled from three-point range but still finished with a game-high 28 points, along with three rebounds, four assists, and two steals. Karl-Anthony Towns and OG Anunoby each added 22 points, giving the Knicks their steadiest production of the night.
Towns may have been New York’s best player overall. He finished with 22 points, 14 rebounds, four assists, a steal, and a block, though the four turnovers were part of a messy night for the team.
Anunoby also delivered efficiently, going 6-11 from the field and continuing to provide value as a perimeter scorer and defender even without recording any stocks. Josh Hart added 13 points and eight rebounds on 5-12 shooting, while Mikal Bridges was limited to six points.
But the perimeter game never really came around. The Knicks shot just 4-16 from deep in the first half, and the second half wasn’t much better at 3-12.
Brunson went 1-7 from three, Towns missed all four of his attempts, and Hart finished 3-9. Anunoby’s 3-6 mark from long range stood out, but it wasn’t enough to balance out the rest of the struggles.
The bench didn’t help. New York’s reserves scored just 11 points in total, with Landry Shamet leading the group with six on 2-5 shooting from beyond the arc.
Andre Drummond finished with four points and three rebounds, and Miles McBride contributed one point, one rebound, and one assist. With the second unit offering so little, the burden shifted even more heavily onto the starters.
That was a problem on the other end, too. Orlando’s bench did real damage, especially Anthony Black and Tristan Da Silva.
Black posted 18 points and hit 5-7 from three, while Da Silva added 19 points and went 5-9 from deep. Together, they scored 37 points and repeatedly punished New York’s wing defense.
At 0-3, the Knicks are already facing questions, even if it feels early to panic. The team did go 0-3 in the preseason before opening the regular season with three straight losses, so there’s a growing sense that something needs to change. For now, that change has to come from inside the room, and the Knicks need a win soon to stop the slide and get the season moving in the right direction.
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Miles McBride should still get his shooting chances, but the Knicks cannot ask him to handle every possession by himself. One possible fix is to stagger Brunsons minutes a bit more aggressively, while also taking a longer look at Tyler Kolek as a secondary ballhandler who can help keep the second group functioning. [Read more 🡒]
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Knicks Face An Early Test Against A Very Different Magic Team
The Knicks are catching the Magic at a very different point than they expected to early in the season. Orlando will be without Paolo Banchero because of injury, which changes the look of the matchup right away and puts more on the shoulders of Franz Wagner, Wendell Carter Jr., Tristan da Silva, Desmond Bane and Anthony Black to carry the offense and keep the game on schedule.
For New York, the bigger question is how much that altered Orlando group can still stress a defense that is trying to sort itself out. The Magic have been held back by their three-point shooting, and if that part of the offense does not improve soon, it puts even more pressure on the rest of the lineup to create easy points against a Knicks team that will be watching closely for any early-season edge. [Read more 🡒]