The Knicks had Orlando where they wanted it for most of the night, and still walked off with the same familiar result: a 111-102 loss that turned a lead into another setback. New York controlled the first 40 minutes, then watched the Magic seize the game in the fourth and never give it back. Three games in, the record is the same as it was in last year’s playoffs - three losses, all three this season.
Karl-Anthony Towns gave the Knicks a version of himself they hadn’t quite seen yet. He posted his third straight double-double, but the more interesting part was how he got there.
Early foul trouble showed up again, with his second whistle coming at the start of the second quarter, but he stayed clean after that and stayed on the floor. That mattered, because Towns kept attacking downhill while the Knicks were ahead.
He also flashed more playmaking than he had in the first two games, finishing with four assists after totaling just four across those opening contests. If this is the start of Towns settling in, New York’s next matchup with a Jalen Duren-less Pistons team could be a problem.
Tyler Kolek made the kind of minutes that get noticed. The ball moved the moment he checked in, and he kept finding the right pass - a drive-and-drop to Mikal Bridges, a feed to Towns on a cut, a kick-out to Landry Shamet for a corner-adjacent 3, then another Shamet 3 after he kept a loose ball alive around the Magic bigs.
He even held his own defensively against the bigger Anthony Black, forcing a missed turnaround. The best stretch may have come in the third quarter, after Jalen Brunson went to the bench with a little more than five minutes left and the Knicks up four.
Brunson sat for nine minutes of game time, and when he came back the lead was still six. Kolek did enough in that window to merit more run, whether that’s in New York or somewhere else.
OG Anunoby also showed a wider toolkit than the usual label suggests. He used the post to open up a corner-3 look for Josh Hart, finished through contact for an and-one, and attacked Nikola Vucevic before rising into a short pull-up in the paint. That sequence fueled an 8-0 run by himself and pushed the Knicks ahead by 10 before the moment passed.
Hart did what Hart always seems to do. The stat line was there again: 13 points, eight rebounds, three 3s, two assists, two steals and a positive rating. At this point, it barely feels worth acting surprised.
Drummond and Wiseman each got seven minutes, and both made their brief appearances count in different ways. Drummond tipped in a bucket and later drove past Vucevic, which stood out as his best showing since the first half of the opener.
Wiseman, in a season-high stretch, brought energy on the glass and used his length to bother several shots after coming in for a superstar and helping preserve the lead. He missed all five of his attempts, but some of that looked like nerves.
Brunson’s night was good enough on paper and not quite sharp enough in the details. He scored 28, but needed 28 shots to get there, missed six of seven from 3 and left three free throws on the table in a game that came down to the end.
That’s part of why the grade stays lower than the point total suggests. He and the Knicks have both looked a little rusty, and the offense has left points out there in more than one place.
Landry Shamet hit a couple of 3s and didn’t do much else that stood out. For that matter, the same could be said for New York’s perimeter shooting as a whole: the Knicks finished 9-of-38 from deep and are at 32% from 3 for the season. McBride’s hot hand from Boston didn’t carry over, and that kind of swing matters more than ever if New York wants to keep its offense steady.
Bridges was the one who drew the harshest glare, not because of a dramatic meltdown, but because he seemed to fade into the background on offense. He wasn’t forcing bad looks or missing a bunch of shots.
He just kept moving the ball along without doing much with it when it came his way. He played 35 minutes and took only two more shots than Wiseman, which tells you plenty about how passive the night looked.
That said, this was one game. Bridges has gone through rough patches before, and he has a track record of finding his way out of them.
In Other News...
Knicks Already Have A Worrying Early Problem Around Their Stars
The Knicks season has opened with more questions than they probably wanted, and Sundays 111-102 loss to the Magic only sharpened them. New York got a strong start and solid nights from Jalen Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns and OG Anunoby, but the offense never found enough balance to sustain it, with shaky three-point shooting and little lift from the bench leaving too much on the starters shoulders.
Orlando took advantage of that imbalance as Franz Wagner and Desmond Bane combined for 45 points, helping push the Knicks to a third straight defeat. For a team built around high-end talent, the early concern is less about the stars themselves than about how little margin there has been around them, and how quickly those support issues can turn a competitive game into another frustrating finish. [Read more 🡒]
Knicks Suddenly Have A Bench Backcourt Problem To Solve
Jose Alvarado is on the injury report as questionable for the Knicks upcoming game with a left ankle sprain, and that puts a little extra pressure on a backcourt that has already had to balance scoring, playmaking and second-unit creation. If he cannot go, the Knicks will have to sort through a bench guard rotation that needs more than one answer, especially when it comes to getting the offense organized once Jalen Brunson sits.
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 🡒]
Former Lakers Guard Dalton Knecht Faces A Humbling Next Step
Dalton Knechts next stop is likely going to be a lot less glamorous than the one he just left. After being waived by the Lakers, the former first-round pick has landed with the Knicks on a two-way contract, giving New York a low-risk way to keep tabs on a player who still has some intrigue but needs time on the court.
Mike Brown made it clear this move comes with a developmental plan attached, saying Knecht will mainly spend his time with the Westchester Knicks to get the playing time he needs. That route could give New York a closer look at where his game stands, and the clock is already ticking with Westchester set to open its season Nov. 6 against the Maine Celtics. [Read more 🡒]