The New York Knicks fell to 0-3 on the season with a 111-102 loss to the Orlando Magic on Sunday, October 25.
Mike Brown’s team struggled to find success when attacking on the perimeter, shooting just 23.7% from deep as a team. Superstar guard Jalen Brunson was among the worst impacted, hitting just one of his seven three-point attempts on the night.
To make matters worse for Brunson, two of his three turnovers came in the fourth quarter. To be fair to Brunson, New York as a team had trouble taking care of the ball in the fourth, giving away seven turnovers in the final 12 minutes.
Speaking to the media after the game, Brunson discussed his poor shooting night, decision-making late in the game, and New York’s current struggles.
“Poor decision-making by me late in the game,” Brunson said. “The ball’s not falling in for us. I think we’ve gotten some good looks throughout the game, but the little things we can control help contribute to wins. We’ve just got to get back to that.”
The Knicks will face the Detroit Pistons on Tuesday, October 27. That matchup is coming at a bad time for Mike Brown’s team, especially as the Pistons have shone on the defensive end to begin the season.
Knicks’ Jalen Brunson Is Struggling From Deep
Brunson is one of the Knicks’ best scorers. When he’s at the top of his game, he’s borderline unstoppable in the half-court. However, to begin the 2026-27 NBA season, Brunson has struggled from deep.
In three games, the superstar guard is shooting 26.7% from three-point range. He’s averaging five three-point attempts per night. Fortunately for Brunson, he is making the most of his interior shots, hitting 42.9% of his two-point attempts.
In fairness to Brunson, the Knicks as a team aren’t shooting particularly well on the perimeter. They rank 18th in the NBA for three-point percentage, hitting 32.4% of their 37 attempts per game.
Mike Brown Reveals Why He Benched Drummond
Another talking point to come out of the Knicks’ loss to Orlando was Mike Brown’s decision to bench Andre Drummond for the second half of the game. Speaking at his post-game news conference, Brown shared his reasoning with the media.
“There were a couple of plays,” Brown said. “Not just him…When you go back and watch the film, what we all have to do, and he wasn’t the only one who did it, but you can’t run with your guys. We have rules in transition that we have to abide by. I didn’t necessarily bench him because of that. He had played for a stretch. I told you guys this before: he played well for us in Game One, and it was the wrong thing to do.”
Brown continued.
“So I’m gonna play him in bursts. Whether it’s three minutes, four minutes, five minutes, six minutes, I’m going to play him in bursts…Wiseman has been playing well in practice, and I wanted to give him an opportunity…Andre will go out there as a backup in the next game…Our starting five is what it is, but everybody else after that, until we can find something where we’re consistent, I’m going to try to find guys opportunities.”
The Knicks appear to be finding their identity to begin the new season. Yet for a team that won a championship just a few months ago, and had minimal offseason turnover, you would expect that identity to carry over. Everything will seem better once the Knicks get some wins on the board.
For now, though, fans in and around New York will be wondering what’s going wrong.
Knicks’ Jalen Brunson Makes Honest Admission After 0-3 Start