Morning After: Magic 111, Knicks 102 as a 10-Point Lead Melts and the Champs Fall to 0-3

Quick answer: The Magic beat the Knicks 111-102 at the Garden on Sunday, Oct. 25, and we're 0-3. Franz Wagner scored 21 of his 23 points in the fourth quarter, and Orlando won the period 40-27 to erase a 10-point Knicks lead. Next up: the 3-0 Detroit Pistons at MSG on Tuesday, Oct. 27 (8 PM ET / 7 PM CT, NBC).

Key stats

• Final: Magic 111, Knicks 102. NYK 0-3, ORL 1-2.
• Fourth quarter: Magic 40, Knicks 27. Orlando outscored us 35-16 over the last nine-plus minutes.
• Wagner: 23 points, 13 rebounds, 9 assists, 21 of the points in the fourth.
• Brunson: 28 points on 12-of-28, 1-of-7 from three, 3-of-6 at the line.
• Cat (Towns): 22 points on 8-of-15 and 14 rebounds, but 0-of-4 from three.
• OG: 22 points on 6-of-11, 10 of them in the fourth.
• Mikal Bridges: 6 points on 3-of-7, and a -23 in 35 minutes.
• Threes: Magic 18-of-42 (42.9%), Knicks 9-of-38 (23.7%).
• Paint: Knicks 52, Magic 32. But Orlando won the fourth-quarter paint 16-12.
• Turnovers: 16 for the Knicks, worth 23 Magic points, with seven of them in the fourth.

My gut reaction

I'm not going to sugarcoat it. That was the one. Banchero was out, we jumped out 12-0, and we were up 86-76 with 9:20 left. The Garden was ready to exhale. Then the whole thing fell apart in about two minutes.

Brunson said it best afterward: "Not happy. Plain and simple." Same, captain.

How it got away

Through three quarters we led 75-71 and controlled the game. Then Wagner, who started the night 1-of-10 from the field according to AP, got going. He scored nine points in an 11-0 run that gave Orlando its first lead of the night, 87-86, with 7:25 left. We never got it back.

The official scorer's report tells the story of that fourth quarter. Orlando went 11-of-13 at the line, grabbed five offensive rebounds and scored 11 second-chance points to our three. We took only 19 shots in the period to their 27, and we turned it over seven times. Mike Brown put it simply: "Giving up 40 points in the fourth quarter is way too much."

Paint vs. threes: half the recipe

This is the lens I keep coming back to. You win by balancing the paint and the three-point line. Sunday we owned the paint, 52-32 for the game and 40-16 through three quarters, per the scorer's report. That's the inside half of the recipe, done.

The outside half never showed up. We went 9-of-38 from deep, while Orlando hit 18. Tristan da Silva and Anthony Black made five threes each, and Desmond Bane made four. That's a 27-point swing from three. You can't overcome that with paint points alone, especially once the paint advantage flipped in the fourth.

Cat at the five: still the answer

I still love the five-out look with Cat at center. He was one of the few guys who played well, with 22 and 14 on 8-of-15. But the whole point of five-out is spacing, and Cat went 0-for-4 from three. When your center isn't hitting from deep and your wings aren't either, the floor shrinks for Brunson. I'm not giving up on the setup. I just need the shots to start falling.

OG carried us; Mikal is still searching

OG was the best Knick in the fourth, with 10 of his 22 in the period, and he went 7-of-9 at the line. I want him and Mikal on the wings together all season. That's the pairing that won us a title.

But Mikal's start is getting hard to ignore. He scored 6 points, didn't make a three, and the Knicks were outscored by 23 in his 35 minutes. The NY Post put it bluntly, calling it a "start to forget." He's earned patience. He also needs a game where one falls early.

About that size

Here's the size issue again. Orlando outrebounded us 49-45 and kept getting second chances when it mattered. Brown said it himself, per SNY: "We'd play great defense and force a tough shot, and then not box out." Brown gave James Wiseman a look off the bench, and he went 0-of-5 in seven minutes. With Jose Alvarado out with a sprained ankle, Tyler Kolek stepped in with 9 assists and no turnovers in 15 minutes. That was a real bright spot.

So... panic?

We're the first defending champ to start 0-3 since the 2011-12 Mavericks, per AP. That's not where I expected to be after watching this team win it all in June.

Still, I'm not panicking. Brown told SNY that about "three-fourths of our turnovers were our mistakes rather than their [defensive] pressure," and he also said, per the Post, "There's no light switch that we can just turn on." He's right. My verdict: the paint game is there, and the effort is there for three quarters. Hit open threes, box out, and stop giving the ball away late, and these games flip.

Up next: Pistons at MSG on Tuesday

• When: Tuesday, Oct. 27, 8:00 PM ET (7:00 PM CT)
• Where: Madison Square Garden
• TV: NBC

Detroit comes in 3-0, so this one won't be any easier. If you missed it, here's our Game Day Preview for the Magic game: https://knicks365.com/blog/knicks-magic-game-day-preview-2026-10-25