Interactive: Banner night to 2-4 — the champion Knicks’ start, step by step

Five months after their first title in 53 years, the Knicks have lost four of their first six games, all by nine points or fewer. Every game of the title defense so far, the numbers behind it and what history says about starts like this.

The Knicks at Madison Square Garden during Game 3 of the 2026 NBA Finals. Photo by The White House, resized.

Interactive · New York Knicks

Banner night to 2-4: the champion Knicks' start, step by step

Five months after their first title in 53 years, the Knicks have lost four of six, all by nine points or fewer. Here is how the title defense has gone, game by game, and what history says about starts like this.

Jalen Brunson with the championship and Finals MVP trophies. Photo credit: NBA / X video still.

Chapter 1

The banner, then the 76ers

In Mike Brown’s first season the Knicks went 53-29, won the NBA Cup in December and went 16-3 in the playoffs. In June they won the franchise’s first championship since 1973.

On Oct. 20 the banner went up at Madison Square Garden. Then LeBron James, in the first game of his NBA-record 24th season, and Jaylen Brown, in his first game since the trade from Boston, beat them 106-100.

0Years between Knicks titles

0Regular-season wins in 2025-26

0Playoff wins, against 3 losses

Brown’s three with 1.5 seconds left in the third quarter capped an 11-0 run and put Philadelphia ahead 83-76. He scored 19 and was plus-17. James had 14 points, 9 rebounds and 7 assists.

Jalen Brunson with the Knicks, April 2023. Photo by Erik Drost, resized.

Chapter 2

Zero and three

Three days later in Boston, Jayson Tatum scored 36, seven of them in the last 1:24, and the Celtics won 107-103. Mikal Bridges went 0 of 8. Back home on Oct. 25, Orlando won 111-102.

The Knicks led all three games, by as many as 10, 5 and 12 points, and lost them by a combined 19. They became the first defending champion to lose its first three games since the 2011-12 Dallas Mavericks.

0Points per 100 possessions after three games, last in the NBA

0%Three-point shooting (36 of 111)

0%Brunson's shooting (25 of 64)

“They didn't want me? Yeah. That's what it felt like.”

— Mitchell Robinson, now with Boston, on the Knicks never making him an offer

Karl-Anthony Towns after the win over Detroit, Oct. 27, 2026. Photo credit: New York Knicks / YouTube video still.

Chapter 3

Two wins in two nights

On Oct. 27 the unbeaten Pistons led by 13 after one quarter. Karl-Anthony Towns answered with 27 points and 20 rebounds, and New York won the third quarter 37-13 on the way to a 111-97 win.

The next night in Chicago the Knicks trailed 87-68 late in the third. Jalen Brunson, who came in shooting 36.6% and 4 of 20 from three, scored 38 with six threes, and New York outscored the Bulls 65-40 the rest of the way to win 133-127.

0Knicks' third-quarter points vs. Detroit, to 13

0Points the Knicks trailed by in Chicago

0Brunson's points vs. the Bulls

0Tyler Kolek's assists in his first three games, with zero turnovers

“I feel like I was putting a lot of unnecessary commentary in my head.”

— Jalen Brunson, after the 38-point night in Chicago

Jalen Brunson after the win in Chicago, Oct. 28, 2026. Photo credit: MrBuckBuckNBA / X video still.

Chapter 4

Philadelphia again

The Cup opener on Oct. 30 sent the Knicks back to Philadelphia. They trailed by 14 in the second quarter, and Brunson’s step-back three with 1:32 left gave them their first lead since the opening minutes, 90-89.

James answered with a fadeaway, VJ Edgecombe hit a three, and James tipped in a miss with 11.9 seconds left. The 76ers won 98-93.

0Knicks turnovers

076ers points off them

0Knicks threes, on 41 attempts

076ers points in the paint

“We're trying to hit a home run every time we get the ball. And we have to hit singles.”

— Knicks coach Mike Brown, after the loss in Philadelphia

Mike Brown on the sideline as Cavaliers coach in October 2013. Photo by Erik Drost, cropped and resized.

Chapter 5

Six games, by the numbers

All four losses were by nine points or fewer. Both wins came on nights when the Knicks moved the ball and kept their mistakes down. Over six games they have scored 642 points and allowed 646.

Final margin, game by game

Oct. 20 vs. PHI, L 106-100-6

Oct. 23 at BOS, L 107-103-4

Oct. 25 vs. ORL, L 111-102-9

Oct. 27 vs. DET, W 111-97+14

Oct. 28 at CHI, W 133-127+6

Oct. 30 at PHI, L 98-93-5

0Points per game

0Points allowed per game

0Mikal Bridges' scoring average

The Knicks at Madison Square Garden. Photo by Jean-Baptiste Bellet, resized.

Chapter 6

What history says

From 2004-05 through 2025-26, 105 teams started 0-3. Only 27 of them reached the playoffs, and none reached the Finals.

No champion in that span started 0-3 or was worse than 2-2 after four games. The Knicks were 1-3.

0Teams that started 0-3 since 2004-05

0%Of them reached the playoffs

0Reached the NBA Finals

The Knicks are not a typical 0-3 team. They won both games once they started moving the ball, and their four losses came by an average of six points. The question is whether the habits Brown keeps naming are fixable before the hole gets deeper.

The Knicks host the Brooklyn Nets at Madison Square Garden on Monday, Nov. 2, at 7:30 p.m. ET, 2:30 a.m. Tuesday in Cairo. Their next NBA Cup game, after the opening loss in Philadelphia, comes in East Group B, where Philadelphia and Miami are already 1-0.