At 0-3, NY Knicks have serious NBA Finals hangover

The New York Knicks have begun their 2026-27 season and championship defense with…three losses in a row. They’re the third defending champs to lose their first three games of the regular season in nearly sixty years.

Worse yet, these Knicks don’t have an excuse beyond the usual championship hangover.

The same fate befell the Dallas Mavericks after they upset LeBron James and the Miami Heat superteam in the 2011 Finals. The Mavs went 0-3, albeit under arguably “special” circumstances. The 2011-12 season began in December after the lockout ground business to a halt for months. What’s more, Dallas lost stud defensive center Tyson Chandler in free agency…to the Knicks.

Go back even further, and the last team to lose its first three games was the 1969-70 Boston Celtics. This was right after star center and coach Bill Russell retired after 13 years with the team, 11 of which won him a ring. Boston had been aging for a while, the Red Auerbach coaching era was over, so the team rebuilt.

These New York Knicks do not have the same excuse. Not unless it turns out letting backup center Mitchell Robinson sign with the Celtics was a grave mistake.

Nope. Nothing to see here, Knicks fans. There is no secret sauce, no magical cure. No push of a button or halfcourt shot that can shift New York’s fortunes.

The 2026-27 defending NBA Champion New York Knicks…simply need to play better basketball.

The Knicks are 0-3 and all games have the same common denominators: poor three-point shooting paired with poor fourth-quarter defense. Case in point, New York allowing 41 in the fourth to the Orlando Magic in Sunday’s 111-102 loss.

How does that happen? Well, let’s start with the Knicks ranking tenth in scoring last year compared to dead last to start the new season? New York is averaging an NBA-worst 101.7 points per game while allowing 108. The latter ranks them eighth in the league.

The struggles from three, however, could be a problem, even with the Knicks sitting around the middle of the pack. New York has shot 32.4% from distance as a team, good for 18th in the NBA.

They ranked fourth with a mark of 37.3% last season.

In fact, the Knicks aren’t making their shots period. They’re tied with Charlotte early on for worst team field-goal percentage at 36.3%. Mikal Bridges alone is only averaging 3.3 points and shooting a vomit-inducing 21.7% from the field. Not from three, the entire floor.

Look, championship hangovers happen to both the winning and losing teams across all sports. The Knicks are just taking their turn. The team has to improve at some point. These sub-40% shooting numbers are temporary.

But knowing New York media and how impatient this city gets? The Knicks had better start racking up some W’s soon before Jim Dolan gets any ideas via WFAN.