Even with Mitchell Robinson<\/a> and Deuce McBride back in the lineup and everybody available, they trailed for the entirety of the final 39 minutes.\u00a0<\/p>\nCoach Mike Brown chastised the defense after allowing at least 35 points in three of the quarters.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s really simple tonight. We lacked physicality that we wanted to have and we\u2019ve been showing on the defensive end of the floor,\u201d Brown said. \u201cOur ability to guard the basketball was not good in the first half. We were getting blown by possession after possession after possession. And guys were finishing at the rim with no defense there. \u2026 Our defense tonight in the first half especially \u2014 in the second half it was a little better \u2014 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\u2019t teams are going to do exactly what Chicago did on the offensive end of the floor. We lost three in a row, we\u2019ve hit some adversity early in the season. I\u2019m interested to see how we respond.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Knicks forward OG Anunoby (8) handles the ball during the first half of an NBA Cup basketball game against the Chicago Bulls on Friday, Oct. 31, 2025. AP<\/p>\n
Brown added that the players didn\u2019t follow the game plan, specifically by allowing Bulls guard Ayo Dosunmu to go right. Dosunmu finished with 22 points and nine assists on 8-of-10 shooting.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI know there were a lot of things game plan-wise that we didn\u2019t adhere to,\u201d Brown said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Jalen Brunson agreed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe didn\u2019t have any game-plan discipline. We didn\u2019t do what was asked of us,\u201d Brunson said. \u201cCoach came up with a game plan and it\u2019s on us to deliver. We can\u2019t switch the game plan if we don\u2019t do the game plan hard enough. I don\u2019t know what to say.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Still, the Knicks clawed back to cut the deficit to two in the fourth quarter. But their last 3 \u00b9\/\u2082 minutes were ugly, with the Knicks getting outscored to end the game, 15-9. Karl-Anthony Towns missed three straight wide-open treys in that stretch. He had 22 points with 10 boards.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chicago Bulls guard Tre Jones, back, guards against New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson (11) during the first half of an NBA Cup basketball game on Friday, Oct. 31, 2025. AP<\/p>\n
Brunson couldn\u2019t prevent a third straight loss, recording 29 points while dominating the ball with 25 shots.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Knicks (2-3) got nothing again from the bench, which was outscored 53-21 by Chicago\u2019s reserves. Josh Hart continues to look lost and in pain, whether because of his back, or surgically repaired finger. Newcomers Guerschon Yabusele and Jordan Clarkson were again non-factors.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have to give a little time first before I\u2019m too worried about it, but our bench does have to play better,\u201d Brown said. \u201cWe\u2019ve got to knock those shots down or we\u2019ve 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\u2019re not doing any of it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\tWhat\u2019s happening on and off the Garden court\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSign up for Inside the Knicks by Stefan Bondy, a weekly exclusive on Sports+.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\tThank you\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
Undefeated through five games, the Bulls, along with the Sixers, are the big positive surprise of this young season. Josh Giddey finished with 32 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists Friday and is playing above expectations on a new contract and equipped with the keys to the offense. They\u2019re young and exciting, winning with the style the Knicks desire for themselves but are struggling to find \u2014 with ball movement and cutting and pace and efficiency\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Bulls are who the Knicks want to be. They\u2019re also younger and more athletic. The Knicks had their optimal rotation in place, with Robinson starting at center and McBride as the catalyst off the bench, but it didn\u2019t matter.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Anthony Towns of the New York Knicks handles the ball during the game against the Chicago Bulls on October 31, 2025 at United Center in Chicago, Illinois. NBAE via Getty Images<\/p>\n
The loss capped an ugly 0-3 road trip for the Knicks, who play Chicago again Sunday at MSG. The defeat was also part of the NBA Cup, meaning Mike Brown\u2019s team faces an uphill climb to advance out of its group.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But the Knicks also have bigger things to worry about than Adam Silver\u2019s in-season tournament.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThis adversity is a great test for us,\u201d Brown said. \u201cIt\u2019s early but it\u2019s a great test for us and I\u2019m looking to see what type of resiliency we have as a group.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CHICAGO \u2014 The Knicks showed up on Halloween as a team at full strength.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t a disguise…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":347450,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5122],"tags":[5229,3127,24114,24115,7195,1260,405,403,3122,5226,5225,5228,5227,17380,62,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-347449","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-chicago-bulls","10":"tag-jalen-brunson","11":"tag-karl-anthony-towns","12":"tag-mikal-bridges","13":"tag-nba","14":"tag-new-york","15":"tag-new-york-city","16":"tag-new-york-knicks","17":"tag-newyork","18":"tag-newyorkcity","19":"tag-ny","20":"tag-nyc","21":"tag-og-anunoby","22":"tag-sports","23":"tag-united-states","24":"tag-united-states-of-america","25":"tag-unitedstates","26":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","27":"tag-us","28":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115473250123998156","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/347449","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=347449"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/347449\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/347450"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=347449"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=347449"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=347449"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}