Jalen Brunson fails late again as Knicks blow 10-point lead to shorthanded Magic for ugly 0-3 start

Sound the mini-alarm. The champs are 0-3.

The Knicks squandered a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter and suffered an ugly 111-102 defeat Sunday night at the Garden to the short-handed Magic.

Jalen Brunson again failed down the stretch — just like in the home opener against the 76ers — and shouldered the blame as one of only two starters who spoke to reporters afterward.

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“Not happy,” the captain said. “Plain and simple.”

Brunson was aggressive but missed 16 of his 28 shots and was off all around — 1-for-7 from beyond the arc, 3-for-6 from the free-throw line. He also committed a costly turnover with about two minutes remaining, lowlighting an overall sloppy evening from the Knicks.

Knicks guard Jalen Brunson (11) goes up for a shot as Orlando Magic forward Franz Wagner (22) defends during the third quarter at Madison Square Garden in New York, Sunday, Oct. 25, 2026. Jason Szenes for NY Post

On defense, the Knicks were carved up by forward Franz Wagner, who scored 21 of his 23 points in the fourth quarter. The German finished one assist shy of a triple-double.

The Knicks were outscored by 19 points in the final nine minutes, mostly because they couldn’t get a stop.

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“Giving up 40 points in the fourth quarter is way too much,” head coach Mike Brown said.

The Knicks now are the first defending champions to start 0-3 since the 2011-12 Mavericks. A loss Tuesday against the Pistons would match the 1969-70 Celtics as the only defending champs to start 0-4.

New York Knicks guard Landry Shamet (44) goes up for a shot as Orlando Magic center Nikola Vucevic (9) defends during the second quarter of an NBA basketball game at Madison Square Garden in New York, Sunday, Oct. 25, 2026. Jason Szenes for NY Post

“Everyone can say it’s early in the season. We can use that as an excuse, but I think the one thing I see is when we get those runs and start to look like the team that we did in the past, we get comfortable,” Brunson said. “So we have to continue to put our foot on the gas and execute like we did last year. And we’re not going to be the same as last year. That’s just human nature. But we have to…

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Publish date : 2026-10-26 02:01:00

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