CHICAGO — On paper, the Knicks are the higher workforce.
They’ve two perennial All-Stars to the Bulls’ none, a pair of three-and-D wings who’d match on any roster, a monster defensive anchor, the league’s most efficient bench scorer over the previous 5 seasons, and a minimum of three others who may begin or shut video games for playoff contenders.
Should you simulated it in NBA 2K26, New York would in all probability win 90 instances out of 100.
However basketball isn’t performed on paper, and video video games don’t depend within the standings.
The Knicks needed to win it on the hardwood, in actual time, in opposition to a red-hot Chicago workforce that entered Friday undefeated at 4–0.
They didn’t.
At full energy for the primary time for the reason that preseason opener, the Knicks fell flat in a 135–125 loss on Halloween — their third straight defeat to shut an early highway journey that’s gone from disappointing to alarming.
First got here the stumble in Miami. Then the collapse in Milwaukee. And now, a blowout in Chicago in opposition to a workforce New York ought to outclass in each measurable class.
This, nonetheless, is the fact of life beneath Mike Brown: a brand new period that was all the time going to begin bumpy. His full overhaul of each the offense and protection — coupled with accidents to key gamers — assured rising pains. However few anticipated them to look fairly this tough.
It doesn’t get a lot uglier than what unfolded on the United Middle. The Knicks surrendered 35 factors within the first quarter and 37 within the second, with solely a Mikal Bridges buzzer-beating three saving them from trailing by 20-plus at halftime.
They couldn’t cease a soul, their defensive effort no sturdier than the brand new subway turnstiles again house: nonetheless simple to get via.
“I worry more about us than about our opponents, and I think if you become elite at what you do and you believe in what you do, you can do it at the highest level,” Brown preached earlier than tipoff. “So for us, it’s more about us. We can combat anyone’s transition if we take care of the ball and execute our rules the right way no matter if we’re playing fast or slow. We want to try to play fast. We’re not playing as fast as I want to right now, but I don’t wanna adjust every time I see an opponent to them. We want to make people adjust to us.”
As an alternative, the Knicks adjusted to everybody however themselves.
They turned the ball over early and infrequently. They misplaced Bulls middle Nikola Vucevic past the arc — he hit 4 threes on eight makes an attempt — and so they had no reply for level guard Josh Giddey, who carved them up for a career-high 32 factors, 10 rebounds, and eight assists. Chicago’s bench poured in 50 factors to New York’s 21, led by Ayo Dosunmu’s 22 on 8-of-10 capturing.
And as soon as once more, the Knicks’ offense defaulted to its previous habits — a heavy dose of Brunson Ball with a aspect of everybody else determine it out.
Jalen Brunson completed with 29 factors on 12-of-25 capturing. OG Anunoby, Mikal Bridges, and Karl-Anthony Cities every added 20-plus. But the Knicks nonetheless managed to lose whereas scoring 125 factors — a quantity that ought to’ve been sufficient to win comfortably.
Mitchell Robinson’s return to the beginning lineup offered no defensive salvation. The Bulls had their means within the paint, on the glass, and from past the arc.
There may be one silver lining: the Knicks don’t depart house once more for 2 weeks. Their subsequent seven video games are at Madison Sq. Backyard, beginning with a rematch in opposition to the identical Bulls who simply ran them off the ground.
However the spooky fact of Halloween night time? New York’s points go far deeper than journey fatigue or home-court consolation.
This workforce has work to do — and 5 video games in, they’re already operating out of excuses.
