Knicks fans have seen this movie before, and history says there’s no reason to hit the panic button yet.
New York is off to a 2-4 start, and all four losses have come by single digits. That includes the ring night defeat to the Philadelphia 76ers, plus another tight one against Philly on Friday that slipped away late. The Knicks keep finding themselves in the kind of games they used to finish off, only this time the ending has gone the other way.
Friday followed the same script for a while. Jalen Brunson drilled a three-pointer with 1:32 left to put New York ahead by one, the first time the Knicks had led since it was 3-2.
It was exactly the sort of shot Brunson has made his calling card late in games, the kind that usually sends the Knicks home with a win. This time, though, Philadelphia answered by outscoring New York 9-3 after that basket.
That left the Knicks at 1-4 in clutch-time games. Their lone clutch win came against the Chicago Bulls, while the losses have come against the 76ers, Boston Celtics and Orlando Magic.
The late-game issues haven’t been hard to spot. Free throws have been a problem, with New York giving away points at the line in key moments.
Brunson missed one on Friday that would have trimmed the margin to two. Against Orlando, the Knicks went 4-for-8 over the final 3.5 minutes.
Brunson also missed two free throws with four seconds left in the loss to Boston, when New York was down four.
And it’s not just the foul line. The Knicks haven’t consistently gotten the stops they’ve relied on in recent seasons, either.
Friday offered another example. Even when Tyrese Maxey missed a contested layup with 12 seconds remaining, the attention he drew opened the door for LeBron James to grab an easy putback.
Still, there’s a bigger picture here. A 2-4 record is not where the Knicks want to be six games into the season, but they also haven’t been getting blown out. Every loss has been close, which matters when you’re trying to figure out whether this is a real trend or just an early wobble.
This group has already proven it can handle pressure better than most. In 2025-26, the Knicks posted the sixth-best clutch-time winning percentage, going 21-13, or 27-16 if the playoffs are included. The season before, they were fifth at 19-12.
That track record is why the concern should stay limited for now. Brunson hasn’t been delivering the same fourth-quarter knockout punch he’s built his reputation on, outside of the Chicago game.
The defense should tighten back up. And with 76 games still to play, there’s plenty of time for the Knicks to get back to the version of themselves that usually closes these games out.
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For New York, the concern is less about one specific target than the broader squeeze that can follow. The Thunder have more assets and more salary cap room to work with, which gives them a cleaner path to outbid or outmaneuver a team like the Knicks if the same players become available. In a market where dependable size is already hard to find, that kind of competition could make an already tricky search even more complicated. [Read more 🡒]