Knicks Start 0-3, Joining Rare Club of Slumping Champions

New York Knicks fans are facing a difficult start to the 2026-27 season. The team has lost its first three games, placing it in the company of only three other NBA champions in the last 80 years who began a title defense with a 0-3 record. Those prior teams were the 1969 Boston Celtics and the 2011 Dallas Mavericks. The Knicks fell to the Philadelphia 76ers, the Boston Celtics, and the Orlando Magic. The Magic had also entered the season winless and played without star forward Paolo Banchero during that contest.

The skepticism stems from last year's specific path to the championship. The Knicks won 53 regular-season games but trailed the San Antonio Spurs for more than 70% of the minutes in the NBA Finals. They overcame a 29-point deficit in Game 4, the largest comeback in Finals history. Jalen Brunson and OG Anunoby delivered key late-game performances, including a tip-in by Anunoby and a 16-point rally in the clincher. Defenders are now questioning if that specific formula is repeatable in a tougher Eastern Conference.

Historical data offers little support for a "championship hangover" as an explanation. Defending champions are a combined 366-154 through their first 20 games in the following season this century. Only the 2006-07 Miami Heat and 2002-03 Los Angeles Lakers started worse. The Knicks are currently fighting for a top-six seed, which is historically necessary for a title. Only the 1969 Celtics and 1995 Houston Rockets have won the championship without a top-three seed.

The team’s shooting efficiency has dropped sharply. New York holds the league’s lowest true-shooting percentage. Its traditional field-goal percentage stands at 40.8%, the second-worst in the NBA behind Charlotte. The team is shooting 32.4% from three-point range. This contributes to the league’s second-worst offensive rating. Jalen Brunson is shooting 39% from the field and 26% from deep. Josh Hart is at 41% and 33%, respectively. Hart is attempting 7.0 three-pointers per game, double his rate from last season.

Mikal Bridges has struggled significantly. He averages 3.3 points on 5-for-23 shooting. He has missed all 10 of his three-point attempts and has not made a jump shot from outside the paint. When Bridges is on the floor for 183 possessions, the Knicks have a net rating of minus-26.1. When he sits for 109 possessions, that number flips to plus-26.6. Bridges has three years and $109 million remaining on his contract, with a $41.5 million player option for 2028-29.

Turnovers are creating easy points for opponents. The Knicks are turning the ball over on 17% of possessions, up from 13.9% last season. They are conceding nearly 21 points per game off these turnovers. Against Orlando, the team committed six fourth-quarter turnovers. Head coach Mike Brown noted that this is a hard gap to overcome when shooting is poor. The team is minus-20 in this category for the season.

Transition defense remains a weak point. The Knicks allowed 24 fast-break points to the 76ers in their opener. This is the highest number in their last 58 games. Against Orlando, Desmond Bane hit two transition three-pointers after Knicks mistakes. New York limits transition possessions well, ranking second only to the Celtics in that metric. However, when opponents do run, they score at a rate of 145.5 points per transition play, the fourth-worst in the league according to Cleaning the Glass.

The team has shown flashes of competitiveness but lacks consistency. Against the Magic, the Knicks allowed 13 fast-break points in the first half before reducing that to six in the second half. They then committed 11 turnovers. The Knicks must correct their shooting and defensive execution quickly to avoid falling out of contention in the East.