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[New York Knicks]

Bulls 135, Knicks 125: Hard to overcome 19-point halftime deficits

This Halloween, the New York Knicks (2-3) finished a three-game road trip with an Emirates Cup game against the Chicago Bulls (5-0). They started strong behind OG Anunoby, Karl-Anthony Towns, and zippy ball movement from Jalen Brunson and Mikal Bridges. Once Josh Giddey ignited Chicago’s offense, however, the Bulls sunk their teeth in and held on, exploding the game with pace, passing, and efficiency. By halftime, Chicago led 72–53 (their highest first-half total of the season), after shooting nearly 48% from deep.

Post-intermission, New York cut their deficit to five, but familiar miscues let the Bulls regain control. New York entered the fourth down 100–91, a not hopeless score. Midway through the frame, the Knicks came within two, yet Josh Giddey, Nikola Vucevic, and Ayo Dosunmu steadied Chicago with clutch shooting and execution. Knicks lose, 135-125.

The Bulls outshot the Knicks with 54% from the field and 46% from three, while New York made 50% and 40%, respectively. The home team held big edges in free throws (28–35 vs. 17–23), points in the paint (54–38), assists (31 to 27), and bench points (53 to 21).

Giddy had a helluva time tonight, scoring a career-high 32 points, and just missing a triple-double with 10 rebounds, and nine assists. The young Aussie—unplayable in certain playoff games with the Thunder due to his poor shooting—netted 4-of-8 from deep. Vooch added 26 points and seven boards, and Dosunmu added 22 points for a team-high +20 in 29 minutes.

For the Knicks, Brunson logged 29 points and seven dimes; Towns had 22 points and 10 boards; Anunoby recorded 24 points on 9-of-12 from the field in 36 minutes; and Bridges had 23 points on 9-of-14 shooting in 38 minutes. Mitchell Robinson played his first game of the season, after missing four with an apparent ankle issue. He posted 11 rebounds and four points in a rusty 20 minutes.

So much for bench depth. Hart is in a bad place (see below). Yabusele was allowed to play three minutes; Clarkson does whatever the hell he wants; and Landry Shamet is a placeholder. Those four players combined to shoot 3-of-12 for 13 points. Miles McBride, playing his first game back after missing two for personal reasons, was a -23 in his 29 minutes. and Tyler Kolek played, but you might have missed it (four minutes and zilch). Ariel Hukporti kept a seat warm.

The good news is, the Knicks now head back to the Garden where they are undefeated this season. The bad news: their next opponent is the Bulls.

First Half​

New York started with a 14–7 lead behind perimeter shooting from Anunoby and Towns, plus buttery ball movement from Brunson and Bridges. The Knicks controlled the speed, crashed the glass, and sang in five-part harmony. Meanwhile, Chicago’s offense sputtered outside of Josh Giddey’s drives. So far, this night had the makings of a Happy Halloween indeed.

OG Anunoby making it look EASY pic.twitter.com/aRG1mSh7p2

— Knicks Nation (@KnicksNationCP) November 1, 2025

In the next clip, Jalen draws three defenders to open up Yabusele from deep. This is the vision! (Yabusele would play three minutes total in the half.)

YABUS3LE pic.twitter.com/rfNnfsxlGV

— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) November 1, 2025

During the mid-to-late stretch of the first quarter, Giddey took charge for Chicago by scoring, rebounding, and facilitating with ease. His chemistry with Buzelis and Dosunmu helped the Bulls overtake New York by the three-minute mark. After that, our heroes watched the game sail off into the horizon. The Bulls closed the first quarter strong and took a 35–27 lead into the break.

In the second, the Chi Guys extended their lead. No matter who Mike Brown deployed, the Bulls schooled ‘em with pace, passing, and shooting, outscoring the Knicks 37–26 in the period..

Bridges provided a few bright moments for New York, including a deep three at the halftime buzzer, but the Knicks’ offense blanched under defensive pressure and poor shot selection.

Josh Giddey & Matas Buzelis in transition is an instant highlight

Their chemistry has been top tier since Buzelis has hit their stride and the pace with which they can both play makes for some dizzying transition play pic.twitter.com/33IMdT7xOo

— Point Made Basketball (@pointmadebball) November 1, 2025

The Bulls took a 72–53 lead into intermission. That marked a season-high for first-half points for Chicago, who shot a blistering 60% from the field and 48% from three. New York managed 46% and 38%. New York had made it to the free-throw line five times, making two; the home team took 17 trips to the charity stripe, hitting 12. Weird whistle tonight, sports fans.

Chicago’s ball movement produced 17 assists to the Knicks’ 13, and they turned eight Knicks turnovers into 16 points, while committing just two themselves. The Bulls also doubled New York in points in the paint (28–14) and scored nine fast-break points.

Second Half​

The Knicks ate handfuls of Halloween candy in the locker room and returned from halftime supercharged by sugar! They trimmed Chicago’s huge lead to 10 by the middle of the third period. With Brunson and Bridges taking command, the ‘Bockers scored eight unanswered and attacked the paint. Robinson’s rebounding and hustle helped to extend possessions, while defensive intensity forced the Bulls into tougher shots, culminating in an always sweet 24-second violation. By the fourt-minute mark, the visitors sliced their deficit to five, having outscored the Cows by 13.

squad got to work early in the Q3 pic.twitter.com/AdLt1YR5tQ

— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) November 1, 2025

After that, Clarkson was a mess. His stumbling and bumbling (an ill-conceived drive that was stripped; multiple bricked bombs) cost New York, knocking them back by 13 again, while multiple Bulls contributed buckets. Towns and Anunoby recovered some ground, though, and after winning the quarter by 10, they entered the final frame down 100-91.

Josh Hart was having another rough night. By this point, he’d scored zero points, one rebound, and was a -18 in 15 minutes of play.

Feel for Josh Hart. Another rough game and has to be frustrating given injuries pic.twitter.com/k95bTbOFKs

— Stefan Bondy (@SbondyNBA) November 1, 2025

The Knicks opened the fourth quarter with an auspicious start. Anunoby’s dunk, Towns’ free throws, and Shamet’s three helped trim the deficit, while Bridges and McBride hit key jumpers to pull New York within six. Robinson reached double digits for rebounds, and Towns anchored the defense with a block on Giddey.

At the six-ish minute mark, great ball movement opened up Anunoby in the corner for back-to-back to threes, capping a 9-2 run and cutting the deficit to two.

After that, hope headed for the exits. Giddy and Vooch would not be stopped, repeatedly connecting to keep New York at arm’s length. Dosunmu’s three (5:15) pushed the lead to 118–113, Mikal Bridges briefly cut the margin with a deep triple, but Chicago answered with steady execution. The Knicks’ offense stalled as Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns missed consecutive jumpers, prompting timeouts as the deficit grew. By 1:44 remaining, after another Giddey layup off a Vucevic feed, the Bulls led 128–116, forcing a Knicks timeout. Following that, New York had a few shots to make it interesting, but that was the ball game.

Up Next​

The Knicks face the Bulls again on Sunday, kicking off a seven-game homestand at Madison Square Garden. Safe travels, Knickerbockers.

Box Score

Source: https://www.postingandtoasting.com/...-hard-to-overcome-19-point-half-time-deficits

 

[New York Knicks]

Knicks Bulletin: ‘I ain’t telling you nothing’

The Knicks don’t seem to know how to win away from MSG to save their collective life.

New York is 2-0 at home and 0-3 on the road. How ‘bout them trips!?

Here’s some transcribed soundbites for your enjoyment (or not) as the NBA takes over Mexico City for Día de Muertos.

"We were getting blown by possession after possession after possession…

"Our defense in 1st half especially was nonexistent.

"…We've lost 3 in a row. We've hit some adversity early. I'm interested to see how we respond."

–– Mike Brown pic.twitter.com/tuedC9rAgA

— New York Basketball (@NBA_NewYork) November 1, 2025

Mike Brown​

On having a full, healthy roster:

“You always want to be at full strength. This is a marathon. This is a process. We still have a lot of room to grow, so having everybody on the floor just gives you more of an opportunity to get some continuity with the guys together. You want that as much as possible. It’s good to have it probably for the first time tonight since I’ve been here.”

On managing Mitchell Robinson’s minutes:

“It’s harder, but it’s part of the process. Can it be done? Yes. Will we get it done? Yes. It’s something that we embrace because we want the best possible version of Mitch we can get. Casey and those guys will handle the technicalities of load management, and we’ll just try to get the group as much as we can as often as we can whenever we can and go from there.”

On defensive accountability without Robinson:

“Mitch is definitely an anchor of the defense with his size and athleticism and ability to change, block shots. We’re going to get better. But there are some things we have to do where we don’t solely rely on Mitch, and so there’s some areas that we can get better at and have to get better at, starting with guarding the ball and then making sure our shifts are right. And we’re not only shifting but we’re shifting big, too. And when we do that, we’re a pretty good defensive team.”

On lack of physicality in loss to Chicago:

“It’s real simple tonight. We lacked physicality that we wanted to have and we’ve been showing on the defensive end of the floor. Our ability to guard the basketball was not good in the first half. We were getting blown by possession after possession after possession.”

On defending the basketball:

“Our defense tonight in the first half especially — in the second half it was a little better — was non-existent and it starts with guarding the basketball. We have to guard better, guard the basketball, and it has to be with a sense of physicality because if we don’t teams are going to do exactly what Chicago did on the offensive end of the floor. We lost three in a row, we’ve hit some adversity early in the season. I’m interested to see how we respond.”

On players missing assignments:

“I know there were a lot of things game plan-wise that we didn’t adhere to.”

On the bench’s poor performance:

“We have to give a little time first before I’m too worried about it, but our bench does have to play better. We’ve got to knock those shots down or we’ve got to finish at the rim when we get there, or try to get out in transition to try to get a couple of easy ones from those guys coming off the bench. Right now we’re not doing any of it.”

On early-season adversity:

“This adversity is a great test for us. It’s early but it’s a great test for us and I’m looking to see what type of resiliency we have as a group.”

On staying true to the team’s playing style:

“I worry more about us than about our opponents, and I think if you become elite at what you do and you believe in what you do, you can do it at the highest level. So for us, it’s more about us. We can combat anyone’s transition if we take care of the ball and execute our rules the right way no matter if we’re playing fast or slow. We want to try to play fast. We’re not playing as fast as I want to right now, but I don’t wanna adjust every time I see an opponent to them. We want to make people adjust to us.”

Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart meet Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart pic.twitter.com/WcKqgK8kks

— James L. Edwards III (@JLEdwardsIII) October 31, 2025

Josh Hart​

On adjusting to a new role under Mike Brown:

“I feel like I’ve got the biggest adjustment out of the whole team. Just in terms of role, starting not starting, how the minutes are going to be, and I’ve got to know every position. There’s going to be times where I’m bringing the ball up, there’s going to be times when I’m the five, and there’s going to be times where I’m the four. So I literally have to know every play from every different position, and it’s one thing to know it in practice and go through it, but when it’s game pace, that’s the real test to it, so I’m still figuring that stuff out and it’s an adjustment. But this is my seventh coach, so I’ve had a lot of adjusting to do in my career so should be solid.”

On balancing ego and sacrifice:

“I think throughout the season, it’ll be a battle of kind of fighting the egotistical view of it. I think I did have a good year last year. And with a different role, now it’s totally different. I think the biggest thing I’ve had to sacrifice my whole career. So it’s never like, OK cool, and it’s seamless. There’s going to be days where I’m just like, ‘Man, that’s some bull.’ You know what I mean? But it’ll be a constant thing of fighting that but making sure I know that this is what’s best for the team and locking in on that.”

On accepting his place as a reserve:

“I’m cool not starting. That’s what I want to do for this season. For me there’s a different way to approach it mentally. Obviously when you have guys that are questionable and they’re a game-time decision, and now my role might be different, and I don’t know what my role is until an hour on the clock or 35 minutes on the clock. So it’s one of those things where like, if I’m not going to start, totally cool with it. But I don’t want to be like the next starter up because then everything is varying by game. I just want more of a consistent role and thought process so I can just perfect that role.”

On finding his rhythm after the back and finger injuries:

“For me, I knew it would take a little bit of time. Normally you’ve got the preseason to kind of get the wind under you. So I knew it was going to take a minute to get back in shape and get my legs under me and be confident in some of those shots. So I figured I’d give myself a week, week and a half of grace before I get too frustrated with myself.”

On delaying finger surgery until the offseason:

“For me, there probably will be a process until I get full feeling back, and that hand will be what it is and shooting. I’m working with Peter Patton all the time, and that will come along. So yeah, I’m not getting surgery.”

On Mitchell Robinson’s return and defensive impact:

“It’s huge because it allows us to get into the ball and be a little more physical on ball knowing that if we do get blown by, we have Mitch there protecting the paint, whether that’s blocking shots, deterring shots, altering shots. So defensively it’s huge, and he can guard on the perimeter and switch, so you add that and he’s a great screener, roller, he sets hard screens. He creates an advantage for us and obviously offensive rebounds, so it’ll be huge to get him back if he comes back today. And we’ll see.”

Jalen Brunson​

On failing to execute coach Brown’s game plan:

“We didn’t have any game-plan discipline. We didn’t do what was asked of us. Coach came up with a game plan and it’s on us to deliver. We can’t switch the game plan if we don’t do the game plan hard enough. I don’t know what to say.”

Knicks planning to start Mitchell Robinson tonight vs CHI in his season debut, per SNY sources. Robinson is ready to play tonight, per Robinson’s Facebook pic.twitter.com/9UvMj1Bj81

— Ian Begley (@IanBegley) October 31, 2025

Mitchell Robinson​

On watching the team struggle while sidelined:

“It’s been stressful, stressful to watch. What I bring a lot to the table, we’re missing right now.”

On returning to action:

“Yeah, it’s frustrating. I like to play. Y’all seen it in the past, I like to go out there and play hard.”

On load management plan:

“I ain’t telling you nothing.”

On missing games to start the season:

“It’s part of the plan.”

On whether the plan continues all season:

“I don’t know.”

On denying any setback:

“Nah, it’s part of the plan.”

On involvement in load management:

“Of course. Going with the flow.”

On conditioning and fitting into Brown’s system:

“The running is going to be a bear at first, but I’m going to keep working and keep pushing myself.”

Source: https://www.postingandtoasting.com/knicks-news/74909/knicks-bulletin-i-aint-telling-you-nothing

 

[New York Knicks]

The Knicks’ Newcomers Are Struggling to Find Their Place

In the basketball world, a five game sample size generally tends to be just that: a sample.

There’s not much you can learn about a team’s true identity across the first week or so of hoops. We’re 6.1% through the year. Any takeaway I could give to you right now could prove to be invalid two weeks from now, let alone the entire season.

That being said, the beginning of the season does give you a chance to address the feel of a team. You learn what ideal rotations look like, how players slot into their minutes, and which combinations of guys tend to perform well.

Now, we learned more about the New York roster last postseason than we ever thought possible. I’m sure you, the reader, have a good understanding of what Brunson, Bridges, Anunoby, and Towns look like on the floor. You know about Josh Hart’s hustle. You might even yell “DEUUUUUCE” every time Miles McBride takes a corner three that you just know is going in.

That being said. The new guys? It’s been our first time seeing them run up and down the floor. Sure, shots may or may not fall. Not every day is going to be the best or worst game of any given player’s career. Whether positive or negative, we will certainly see regression to the mean for every single player on the floor. But there’s a certain sense you get towards the beginning of the season in terms of how your offseason additions fit into the bigger picture, how they’ll look to contribute, and what they can provide for your team.

From that perspective, things haven’t been ideal for Jordan Clarkson and Guerschon Yabusele.

I could have warned you already about the Jordan Clarkson battle we’d be fighting this season. He’s shooting 32% from the field on 29% from deep. Obviously, those numbers will change.

But boy, are his shot selections far from desirable. Not to mention that the defense on the other end of the floor is non-existent.

Jordan Clarkson is signing with the Knicks

Mike Breen is NOT gonna be happy

pic.twitter.com/52V4ry1Cgf

— Knicks Memes (@KnicksMemes) July 1, 2025

It’ll remain to be seen if Clarkson can wise up and play winning basketball. There were moments last night where New York looked very strong on the offensive end of the floor. If Clarkson can find his role in the flow of the offense, rather than take over and bring the game to himself, things will look better.

But the inefficient “bucket-in-a-pinch” play style will certainly hurt the Knicks over time. He’ll bail New York out of some big moments where the offense comes to a standstill. He’ll go on some remarkable heaters and show why he’s one of the best iso-scorers in the modern NBA. One can only hope that it happens more times than not, and he remains a net positive for the Knickerbockers.

Similarly, everyone’s been asking themselves what happened to Gueschon Yabusele, the other key offseason signing. He’s looked completely lost as a Knick, scoring 8 points in 4 appearances. His field goal percentage is below 25%. His defense has been underwhelming. Last night, we got the sense that things may be even worse than they seem.

Yabusele played 3 minutes in the first quarter and hasn't been back

— New York Basketball (@NBA_NewYork) November 1, 2025

Three minutes of playing time. That’s all.

Yes, percentages will rise. Yes, he’ll ease into the lineup over time. But again, early returns have not been desirable, and if New York wants to make another deep playoff run, it’s absolutely imperative that Yabusele be a contributor. Can he find his three point stroke? Can he wall up on the defensive side of things?

There’s a lot of time left. There’s no question about that. But for the Knicks to untap their full potential, Mike Brown will have to play around with the lineup to get the most out of both Clarkson and Yabusele. The other guys on the team have had some time to mesh, and integrating two new pieces is never easy.

The Knicks play the Bulls again tomorrow night. Let’s see if they can start to right the ship.

Source: https://www.postingandtoasting.com/...-newcomers-are-struggling-to-find-their-place