Knicks Are Off to a Slow Start, and a Championship Hangover Might Be to Blame

The sample size is small, but so far this season the New York Knicks haven’t looked like a team capable of defending its NBA championship. New York has looked more like a team still suffering from a championship hangover.

The Knicks are 3-1 since their 0-3 start, but that probably doesn’t ease the pain their fans are feeling since two of those wins came against Chicago (1-6) and Brooklyn (1-6), teams at the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings. The losses include two setbacks against Philadelphia and one against Boston, two of the bigger roadblocks on New York’s path to another title.

“We just haven’t played our best, and we haven’t executed at a high level,” Karl-Anthony Towns said.

History tells us New York is pedaling uphill. Only one team has started a season 0-3 and gone on to win the NBA championship. The 1990-91 Chicago Bulls were winless after three games, but punctuated their season by beating the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA Finals.

New York’s postseason march to the 2025-26 NBA title was defined by improbable comebacks.

– The Knicks trailed Cleveland by 22 points with less than eight minutes to play in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals and found a way to win.

– San Antonio led New York by at least 14 points in three games during the NBA Finals, but lost the series in five games.

– The Spurs had a 29-point lead in Game 4 (81-52), but New York rallied and prevailed 107-106 on an OG Anunoby tip-in with 1.2 seconds remaining.

Too many times this season the Knicks have fallen behind by double digits, and too many times they haven’t caught up. New York trailed by at least 10 points in each of its first six games.

“I wish I could tell you that one,” Josh Hart told The Athletic when he was asked why New York has trailed by so many points in so many games this season. “If I could tell you that one, and the reason why, then maybe it would stop happening. I think we all have a great will to win. I think sometimes it takes us a little longer to find a game, whether that’s the flow, fatigue, whatever it is.

“We have to do a better job of finding the game early, making it easy and then not relying on double-digit comebacks because it’s taxing.”

New York also sleep-walked through three quarters of Monday’s matchup with Brooklyn. The Knicks trailed by four after three quarters, but woke up in time to pull out a 103-90 victory. It was New York’s 15th straight victory against Brooklyn, a streak that began in 2023

“The issues are still there,” Hart said after Monday’s win. “I think defensively, we were solid. I think this year, for the most part, our defense has been pretty good. Obviously there have been some lapses. … But our offense has to get in a better flow, and that’s kind of what’s holding us back right now. So a win doesn’t erase the problem or erase the issues. We got to figure those out and get better.”

The Knicks have a forgiving schedule for most of November, so that may give them a chance to get right.

New York can also take solace in this: The winner of the Larry O’Brien Trophy won’t be determined until June.