'Everything falls on my shoulders,' Brunson says of Knicks' sputtering offense amid 0-3 start

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  Vincent GoodwillOct 26, 2026, 12:55 AM ET

NEW YORK -- Jalen Brunson has repeatedly said the opening weeks of the season would be telling for the defending champion New York Knicks, and so far, the returns have left much to be desired.

The Knicks remain winless after a third straight defeat, this one at the hands of the Orlando Magic on Sunday at Madison Square Garden. The Knicks blew a 10-point lead with 9:20 left, allowing 40 fourth-quarter points in a 111-102 loss.

The last time a defending champion had three losses to open the season was in 2011-12, when the Dallas Mavericks had to wait until their fourth game before registering a win.

"Everything falls on my shoulders," Brunson said, in reference to the Knicks' potent offense sputtering in the opening days of the season. "I just gotta be a better leader when it comes to that, when it comes to our guys are ready to go in the right spots. There's a lot of other little things, but it's organization on my part."

Brunson led the Knicks with 28 points but was 12-of-28 from the field and missed six of his seven 3-point attempts.

The Knicks struggled from long range in their first two games and shot 9-for-38 (23.7%) from 3 on Sunday, unable to keep pace when the Magic made a fourth-quarter charge. Orlando forward Franz Wagner, taking on more responsibility with Paolo Banchero sidelined multiple weeks, scored 21 of his 23 points in the fourth, also finishing with 13 rebounds and nine assists.

"One thing I said throughout the entire training camp, and honestly to this day, is we're going to see who we are within the first couple weeks of the season," Brunson said. "So we're hitting adversity now, how are we going to respond?"

Both Brunson and coach Mike Brown agreed on the little things hurting the Knicks. They began the game with a 12-0 advantage but found themselves leading by just four at halftime.

It has been a theme of sorts: The Knicks have shown flashes of the dominant playoff team they were last spring in games against Philadelphia, Boston and Orlando -- three teams with playoff aspirations -- but haven't sustained it beyond small stretches.

"Everyone can say it's early in the season, we can use that as an excuse," Brunson said. "When we get those runs, we start to look like the team that we've been in the past. We get a little comfortable, so we gotta continue to put our foot on the gas."

It has shown in the numbers so far: The Knicks entered the day 29th in offensive efficiency, and Sunday's outing seemed to match up with that.

"Games like this will tell us, our crap stinks. It does," Brown said. "And we're the only ones who can do anything about it. There's no light switch we can just turn on and go and win the ballgame. Nobody's giving us anything, so we have to be better with the little things until we start shooting the ball."

In the first half, Brown believed the Knicks' transition defense was lacking. He pulled backup center Andre Drummond after Magic center Wendell Carter Jr. beat him downcourt for a layup after a Knicks basket. In the second half, the Magic forced 10 turnovers and hit 8 of 18 3-pointers.

When asked if the team has looked lethargic or a step slow, Brown didn't hesitate: "Yeah, we do."

"In spurts, it has gotten better," Brown said. "There's no crispness or sharpness on us in the frontcourt. On both sides of the ball, the level of physicality."

He mentioned those things to the team in the morning shootaround, but "we're not quite there yet."

The undefeated Detroit Pistons visit Madison Square Garden on Tuesday, a team that handled the Knicks in the regular season last year.