Last Minute News, Rumors, Reports before Knicks Crucial Game...
Oct 26, 2026
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The New York Knicks raised a championship banner last Tuesday night
and then they lost to the
Philadelphia 76ers and followed that up by losing
to the Boston Celtics. The champs are 0-2 and the
internet has already decided.
One headline after Boston is the Knicks sacrificed the next 80 seasons
for that ring. But here's the thing, I'm not panicking.
I don't think any Knicks fans really
should be panicking over this, but people are.
People are saying the Knicks are never going to
win for another 53 years,
it did not take long for everyone to turn back on the Knicks because
that is what casual NBA fans default to.
But the Knicks, they're hosting the Orlando Magic on
Sunday at 7 p.m. at Madison Square Garden.
The Magic just lost their best player, so I'll give
you every injury on both sides, every update as well,
and the four numbers that say this team is
about to go on a massive win streak on this episode of Knicks Digest.
Let's start back at
Banner Night. The New York Knicks led by 10 points
in the second quarter, and then the third quarter
happened. They shot 5 for 21 from the field in that third quarter.
Philly closed it on a 14-2 run.
For that game, the Knicks shot 37% and went 19 for 27 at the line.
Mike Brown said it best after
the game. All throughout the game,
we looked like we were running in the mud. Now, then Boston,
Jayson Tatum he scored 36 to 25 of them
in that second half the Knicks were down 12 in the fourth
quarter came all the way back within one
and then Tatum hit a three from the wing to end the game
now just like Banner Night it
was the third quarter again Boston won it 33 to 24 and took
a 10 point lead in the fourth that the Knicks could
not come back from so two losses by six
and four 12 lead changes in Boston these weren't blowouts
these were coin flips and the Knicks
they lost both of them and yes the third quarter
is certainly a problem but there's a part that
nobody is saying the defense is fine after two games
the Knicks have a defensive rating of 108.7
that's 11th in the league it's the offense 103.6 points
per 100 possession 22nd in the league
last year the same core put up 119.8 that was third in the league
and an offense that good
It doesn't forget how to score over one summer
of just celebrating a championship.
Something specific is broken, and we're going to explain it.
First off, there's the injuries,
because that changes Sunday's matchup in a big way.
For the Knicks, the only name in the official report is Jose Alvarado.
He's questionable on Sunday with a left ankle sprain.
If Alvarado sits, that's more minutes
for Landry Shammott and Deuce McBride,
and Deuce just went 6-for-8 from 3 in Boston,
so obviously having a nice start to his season.
But then there's the Orlando Magic, and this is the big one.
Paolo Banchero is out.
Shams Charania reported a low-grade high ankle sprain
on Friday's loss to Minnesota.
Paolo went down with the injury.
And the usual timeline for that is four to six weeks,
which is the expectation for Banchero.
Now, this is a massive loss.
He scored 35 points on opening night against Atlanta.
Brought in a ton of rebounds and assists with that.
And he's not alone.
Jonathan Isaac, who's battled injuries
his whole career, is out as well.
The team calls it knee injury management.
Noah Penda is out with a partially torn right hamstring.
Isaiah Nelson is out, still recovering from a left ankle injury,
and Anthony Black is questionable with a right ankle sprain.
So, the Magic come to the Garden 0-2 without their best player
and probably leaning on Franz Wagner
and Desmond Bain and Tristan Da Silva
to replace those shots.
And, guys, if you do want all
of the Knicks games broken down like this,
make sure to go ahead and subscribe to the channel.
We're trying to get to 30K before the year does end,
and I think we're going to get there.
Okay, now let's go into the four numbers
that are about to flip this on its head.
Now, number one, three of the Knicks' best players
are shooting like they've never seen a basket.
Kevin McHale is 2-for-16 from the field and 0-for-7 from three.
On Friday, he played 22 minutes
and literally scored zero points, going 0-for-8 from the field.
When last season, he shot 49% from the field,
shot over 60% in the playoffs as well from the mid-range.
He was outstanding. He's McHale. I'm not worried about him at all.
He's the guy who played all 82 games last season, the year before that,
and every year that he's played where there's been 82 games,
because, you know, COVID impacted that a little bit.
but he's averaged 14.4 points per game he's
not hurt he's just cold it happens McHale goes through
cold stretches we know this OG Anunoby is 3
for 15 from three last season he shot 38.6 percent
from deep and Jalen Brunson 13 for 36
from the field after shooting 47 percent last year and
also you know being Jalen Brunson now we put those three together
and they're 23 for 75 if they'd shot
their numbers from last season on the same shots
that's about 13 more made baskets even if every
one of those is a two that's 26 points
and the Knicks lost their two games by 10 points combined
so this is not some insane panic moments
and this is the really important part that we do have to
say two games is absolutely nothing
if we're being completely honest with ourselves it's just not
something that I can't that and this is the important part
that we all know and that everyone
has to remember two games is nothing a shooter made 49
of his shots the whole season does not
becoming a 12% shooter over one summer. The Knicks are fine.
That number is coming back up. It's just a
cold stretch, and we wonder when it's going to happen, of course.
Now, number two, the Knicks
still own the glass. Their offensive rebounding,
their defensive rebounding, it is still great.
It's what won them a title. They grabbed 26
offensive rebounds in these two games. Philly
and Boston grabbed 16 combined.
The Knicks lost the best offensive rebounder in basketball,
Mitchell Robinson, to Boston, but at the same time,
having Karl-Anthony Towns and Andre Drummond
is the best rotational rebounding center duo in basketball.
Now, there's an offensive rebounding rate at 28%
against about 18% for their opponents.
Drummond had seven by himself on opening night.
That's the identity from the title run that is still there.
And number three, the one that decides today's game
is the turnovers.
The Knicks are turning the ball over a lot.
They turned the ball over 33 times in these two games.
Their opponents, they turned it over 23 times.
Philly and Boston scored 41 points off turnovers.
The Knicks scored 30 off of theirs.
that's minus 11 off turnovers they lost two games
by 10 cleaning that up and this team is 2-0
no doubt about it and here is why today's game
is where it all changes the Magic have turned the
ball over 36 times in two games 20 against Atlanta alone they went 8
for 39 from 3 against Minnesota
and that was Banchero for most of the game
who was you know playing well now number four there's
Karl-Anthony Towns been the best player
on the floor he's 15 for 22 from the field and 5 of 7
him from three in two games he's just
not getting enough shots right now and yeah not a ton of
players being drawn up because he's playing
that similar flex position that he is playing in the
or that he was playing in the playoffs
but at the same time he does need to shoot the ball more 22
shots in two games for the most efficient nick
on the roster against the magic team without
Banchero and Jonathan Isaac we have to see
that number go up as the front court is fairly thin
outside of Wendell Carter Jr
and Nikola Vucevic coming off the bench and this is how the knicks
really do beat the Orlando Magic,
and we're going to go through the game plan on this because it
makes sense. First, the Magic still absolutely
have talent without Paolo Franz Wagner scored
22 points and 18 points in his first two games.
He's a great player. Wendell Carter Jr. scored
22 points and 20. That's who the Knicks have to slow down,
and honestly, when we look at what
happened to Orlando on the glass against Minnesota,
the Wolves grabbed 22 offensive boards and won
the rebounding battle 61 to 43
so the Knicks can absolutely dominate on that side of the ball
that's exactly where they live between Drummond Towns
and Josh Hart they should feast on second
chance points and also not allowing the Magic
to ever get any chances for a second chance point
now the Magic also live in the paint it's where they play
their best basketball they're not a
good shooting team 50 points
in the paint against Atlanta 54 against Minnesota but they can't shoot
Across their two games, they're shooting 26.6% from three.
It is not good.
So the plan writes itself.
Pack the paint, make the Magic beat you from outside,
and dare them to do it without their best scorer.
Third, Jalen Brunson against this team is insane.
40 points in the NBA Cup semifinal last December,
16 for 27 from the field, and it starts with finding his touch,
which we all know he will.
And honestly, the Banner Night hangover is real.
You spend the summer celebrating.
You get your rings.
The whole city is partying.
Then two nights later, you have to grind in Boston.
I'm not worried about it.
Every champion goes through this.
Also, the Spurs are 0-2 as well.
So it's just taking a minute for everyone to get back up to speed.
And if you need more convincing,
we could also just look at last season.
The Knicks started that season 5-6.
They also started 2-3 when they lost to Miami,
Milwaukee, and Chicago in six games
before winning five straight games soon after.
They finished 53-29, and they won the NBA Cup in December,
beating the same Magic in the semifinals as I just mentioned.
Now, at the same time, we look at the playoffs
and first round against Atlanta,
they lost two straight by one point each
and were down one to two.
It felt like the Knicks were actually on the ropes.
It felt like their best chance to win an NBA title
was going to come up short, very short,
but that didn't happen.
They won 15 of their next 16 games,
not losing until game three of the NBA finals
and they won the next two games and won the NBA finals.
And honestly, guys, that really is where we see it.
In the finals against the Spurs,
two of their four wins came by a single point.
This team knows how to win close games.
The first two of the season were the exception, not some new normal.
And this team has started slow before,
and it's been down in a series before.
Every single time, they answered with a run.
I don't see why this is any different at all.
So here's the three keys that I'm looking at for this game.
One, they got to win the turnover battle.
The Magic will give you the ball.
Take it and don't give it back.
Get Towns more than 11 shots.
He's got to shoot the ball more.
He's just too effective to not.
And three, get Bridges going early.
When McHale gets going, he's great,
and he'll stay in rhythm for a while.
It's just the fact that he does go through these cold stretches,
but he can get out of them.
Get him a couple shots in the mid-range,
get him to his spots, and watch him start to cook.
And ESPN's matchup predictor gives the Knicks a 69.4% chance
to win this game.
I'll go higher than that, though, if I'm being honest.
defense the rebounding the shots they're all there it's all going
to happen on Sunday night
the champs are going to get their first win of the season
and be right back at it but tell me
in the comments do the Knicks beat the Magic on Sunday
and give me your final score and
I'll talk to you guys after the game