Jalen Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns, New York Knicks, James Dolan, Knicks fourth-straight loss, Knicks Giannis trade rumors, Knicks news, Knicks Pistons game
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Jalen Brunson and Karl Anthony-Towns called out the Knicks after their fourth loss in a row, while James Dolan talked Giannis trade rumors.
Through the first two months of the 2025-26 NBA season, the New York Knicks appeared to be title contenders, but recently, that hasn’t been the case, leaving Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns looking for answers.
Most recently, the Knicks lost their fourth straight game, falling by 31 points to their top-of-the-East rival, the Detroit Pistons. The blowout came after losing to the Philadelphia 76ers, Atlanta Hawks, and San Antonio Spurs.
Speaking after the game, both Brunson and Towns were not happy.
“It’s cool to be in a funk, [stuff] happens in the course of a season,” Towns said. “But this is a bad, bad time. You can’t be this bad.”
Now third in the Eastern Conference standings behind the Pistons and Boston Celtics, New York hasnow fallen to 23-13, losing six oftheir last 11 games since beating the Spurs in the NBA Cup Final.
Brunson And Towns Not Happy After Knicks’ Fourth-Straight Loss
Towns’ comments after the game shed light on what has been the biggest change for the Knicks this season. After making the Eastern Conference Finals last year, the front office chose to fire head coach Tom Thibodeau and bring in two-time Coach of the Year Mike Brown. For the most part, Brown’s new style has worked, but as Towns said, it hasn’t been the easiest for him.
“Different system,” Towns said. “It’s just different.”
“Biggest adjustment is for me. Like Mike said, I make the biggest sacrifice. We’re figuring it out. We’ve got a long flight, a practice tomorrow, we’ve got to sit down and figure out who we are and how we want to get back on track.”
While there were some concerns about Towns in Brown’s new style to begin the season, he’s had a strong year so far, putting up 21.5 points, 11.5 rebounds, and 2.8 assists per game on 47.1% shooting. However, he had just six points, one rebound, and one assist in 23 minutes against Detroit, all of which were season lows.
New York Basketball
Karl-Anthony Towns as Knicks lose by 31 in Detroit:
6 points 6 turnovers 4 shots 1 rebound minus-27
For Brunson, he continues to be on pace for another All-NBA team while climbing up the MVP ladder through his team’s first 36 games of the season.Yet still, like Towns, he made it clear that the types of performances seen on Monday against the Pistons are something that can continueas the yeargoes on.
“We just gotta respond. A lot more needs to be said. We keep it internal,” Brunson said postgame. “If we want to be the team we say we want to be, we have to be better, simple as that.”
Brunson finished the night with 25 points, three rebounds, zero assists, and six turnovers. No Knicks players finished the game with a positive plus/minus in what was their biggest blowout of the year.
Knicks Owner Drops Bold Thoughts On Team
Before New Yorkgot demolished by a team they could very well face off against in the postseason, their owner, James Dolan, had a radio interview in which he discusseda number of topics regarding the franchise.
One of the topics that made headlines was Dolantalking about the Knicks notraising a banner after winning the NBACup, to which the owner gave a blunt response.
“We are going to raise the banner. We’re going to raise the NBA championship banner,” he said. “That’s the banner we want. We don’t want some consolation prize.”
Dolan also discussed the trade rumors surrounding the Knicks.Specifically, as it relates to Giannis Antetokounmpo, stemming from a report a few months agofrom Shams Charania,saying that the 2021 Finals MVP was interested in a move to New York. However, the owner shut those rumorsdown.
“We love our team right now. They have chemistry. They all like each other. I’ve never seen a locker room more copacetic. There’s a lot of energy in there,” Dolan added. “Leon can always overrule me, but I don’t see us making a big change. This group can win a championship. I believe that.”
Additionally, Dolan addressed the team parting ways with Thibodeau after having their most successful playoff run in 25 yearslast season.
“I won’t say you can’t win a title with Tom Thibodeau,” he said. “I don’t necessarily know if that’s true. It’s just that if you want to build a long-term, competitive … you need somebody who’s much more of a collaborator than Tom was.”
For now, the Knicks have some issues tofix if they want tokeep their status as NBA title contenders going forwardafter their four-straight losses.