Knicks lose third straight to begin new season, falling 111-102 to Magic

The Knicks (0-3) continued their slow start to the new season with a 111-102 loss to the Orlando Magic (1-2).

Here are the takeaways…

— The Magic were missing star forward Paolo Banchero, having just been ruled out for the next four-to-six weeks with a high ankle sprain. Orlando’s first-year head coach Sean Sweeney started second-year swingman Jase Richardson in Paolo’s place.

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— The Knicks jumped out to an 8-0 lead thanks in part to threes knocked down by OG Anunoby and Josh Hart. Even after a Magic timeout, the Knicks kept pouring it on, with Hart making life miserable for free-shooting Orlando guard Desmond Bane. Magic center Wendell Carter Jr. tried to jolt some life into his team with some physical play, and got into it with Hart and Anunoby, the latter of whom picked up a flagrant one foul by running through Carter’s screen. Carter’s two made free throws were the first Magic points of the night, which came with 7:17 left in the first quarter, and guard Anthony Black splashed a triple to complete the five-point play to the dismay of Knicks head coach Mike Brown. The Knicks held the Magic to 30 percent from the field in the first quarter, leading 28-21 entering the second.

— Both offenses kicked it into gear in the second quarter. The Knicks bench — namely Tyler Kolek, Landry Shamet, and Andre Drummond — picked on Orlando’s backup center Nikola Vučević, while the Magic’s motion offense made it rain from behind the arc. New York had a noticeable pep in their step when Hart returned to the floor, generating some turnovers and protecting their lead with fastbreak points. While the Knicks were lockdown in the halfcourt with superb rotations and physicality, their transition defense was slow to react throughout the first half, and Bane heated up to cut the Knicks’ lead to just four by halftime, 52-48.

— The Knicks had really struggled in the third quarter during their first two games of the season, both of them losses. Karl-Anthony Towns and Jalen Brunson asserted their will on the third quarter in their third game of this new season to ensure the early trend didn’t continue. The star duo got…

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Publish date : 2026-10-26 01:40:00

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