On a Sunday night at Madison Square Garden, the defending champion Knicks held an eight-point lead with less than nine minutes to play, and then watched it slip away in a 33-16 Orlando run that ended 111-102 in the Magic's favor. The loss leaves New York at 0-3, a start that echoes the Dallas Mavericks of 2011-12, the last champions to stumble this badly out of the gate. Champions are often measured by how they close, and this early stretch is asking the Knicks whether their margin for error has quietly disappeared.
Knicks Drop to 0-3 After Blown Lead, Matching a Historic Slump for Defending Champs
Then the defending champions watched another one slip away.
Mark
Why does a 0-3 start get so much attention three games into an 82-game season?
Mimi
Because of who it is. No defending champion had started this way since the 2011-12 Mavericks, so the Knicks have joined a very short list.
Mark
And they led this one by eight with 8:40 left.
Mimi
Right, and Orlando closed on a 33-16 run. That's what stings. It's the third close loss, not a series of blowouts.
Luke
Careful, though. Two of the three were close, by six and four. We only know the Orlando game's late collapse in detail from this reporting.
Mark
What explains Orlando winning without Banchero?
Mimi
The shooting and the bench. Orlando made 18 threes to New York's nine on 38 tries, and its reserves won 47-11.
Luke
Those numbers describe what happened, not why. The reporting doesn't say whether the Knicks' defense, rotations or shot selection caused the late run.
Mark
Does Brunson's night matter here?
Mimi
He scored 28, but on 12-of-28 shooting. Anunoby added 22.
Luke
And whether that efficiency hurt the late stretch isn't established. Also, three games is a tiny sample, and the Mavericks comparison says little about how this season ends.
The Pulse
- A commanding eight-point lead with 8:40 left evaporated into a 33-16 Orlando surge that turned the game on its head.
- New York is now the first reigning champion to open 0-3 since the 2011-12 Mavericks, and the alarm bells are ringing across the league.
- The bench collapsed, with Orlando's reserves outscoring the Knicks 47-11 and exposing a depth problem nobody wanted to see this early.
- Nine made threes from 38 attempts told the story of cold shooting, while Orlando's 18 triples kept the Magic in control.
- Three losses, each within reach late, leave New York searching for the closing discipline that a champion is supposed to own.
On a Sunday night at Madison Square Garden, the defending champion Knicks held an eight-point lead with less than nine minutes to play, and then watched it slip away in a 33-16 Orlando run that ended 111-102 in the Magic's favor. The loss leaves New York at 0-3, a start that echoes the Dallas Mavericks of 2011-12, the last champions to stumble this badly out of the gate. Champions are often measured by how they close, and this early stretch is asking the Knicks whether their margin for error has quietly disappeared.
With 8:40 left at Madison Square Garden on Sunday night, the Knicks were up eight on the Orlando Magic and looked in control. By the final buzzer, they had lost 111-102, and the defending champions were 0-3.
Orlando's 33-16 closing run decided the night. It was New York's third straight loss to open the season, placing the Knicks in rare company as the first reigning champions to drop their first three games since the 2011-12 Dallas Mavericks. Those Mavericks also began slowly, losing to the same Miami team they had beaten in the Finals months earlier, before eventually climbing back.
Orlando managed all this without Paolo Banchero or Jonathan Isaac, and it arrived winless itself, so both sides were hungry. Only one got what it wanted. The difference showed in the details: 18 Magic threes against nine makes in 38 Knicks attempts, and a bench that was outscored 47-11.
Jalen Brunson scored 28 but needed 28 shots to do it, and OG Anunoby added 22. Franz Wagner posted 23 points, 13 rebounds and nine assists for Orlando. The early losses to Philadelphia and Boston follow the same pattern of late leads slipping away.
The question now is whether New York can steady its bench and finish the tight games it keeps almost winning.
With 8:40 left on Sunday night at Madison Square Garden, the Knicks were up by eight points on the Orlando Magic. By the final buzzer they had lost 111-102, and the defending NBA champions were 0-3.
The game turned on the closing stretch. Orlando finished on a 33-16 run, taking a game that New York had in hand into the final minutes. It was the third straight defeat to open the season, and it put the Knicks in rare company: they are the first reigning champions to lose their first three games since the 2011-12 Dallas Mavericks.
Those Mavericks had a similar start. They lost their opener to the Miami Heat, the team they had beaten in the Finals six months earlier. They then lost to Denver and Oklahoma City before finally beating Toronto.
The Magic did this short-handed. Paolo Banchero, their best player, sat out with an ankle injury, and Jonathan Isaac was also unavailable. Orlando had also come into the night winless, so both teams arrived looking for a first victory, and only one found it.
The three-point line told much of the story. Orlando made 18 3-pointers, while the Knicks hit nine of 38 attempts. The bench gap was just as wide: Orlando's reserves outscored New York's 47-11.
Jalen Brunson led the Knicks with 28 points, though he needed 28 shots to get them and made 12. OG Anunoby added 22. For Orlando, Franz Wagner filled the stat sheet with 23 points, 13 rebounds and nine assists, and Tristan da Silva contributed 19.
This was not the first game to get away from New York. The Knicks lost by six to Philadelphia, and by four at Boston, where Jayson Tatum scored 36 points and hit the 3-pointer with 30.3 seconds left that sealed it. Each of the three losses has been within reach late.
What to watch now is whether the Knicks can steady a bench that was outscored by 36 on Sunday, and whether they can finish a tight game once they have the lead.
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