Sound the mini alarm.
The champs are 0-3.
The Knicks coughed up a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter and suffered an ugly defeat Sunday night at home, 111-102, to the shorthanded Magic.
Jalen Brunson again failed down the stretch — just like in the home opener — and was off all around. He finished 12-for-28 overall, including 1-for-7 from beyond the arc and 3-for-6 on foul shots — while committing a costly turnover with about two minutes remaining.
The Knicks, the first defending champs to start 0-3 since the 2011 Mavericks, also allowed Magic forward Franz Wagner to carve them up in the paint.
The German finished with 23 points, with all but two of them in the fourth quarter. Wagner fell an assist short of a triple-double.
Brunson wasn’t alone in the struggles. Mikal Bridges continued his start to forget with just six points. The Knicks were outscored by 23 points in Bridges’ 35 minutes.
The Magic entered 0-2 and were without their best player, Paolo Banchero, who sat with an ankle sprain.
The Knicks pounced. They scored the first 12 points and held the Magic scoreless for almost five minutes, a stretch that was interrupted when OG Anunoby trucked Wendell Carter Jr. for a flagrant foul.
Eventually, the Knicks folded.
The end of the night also turned somber when Jalen Suggs, the Magic’s starting point guard, appeared to suffer a significant knee injury while driving to the basket. His leg buckled and he collapsed in pain, as teammates huddled around.
In a noteworthy development, coach Mike Brown benched reserve center Andre Drummond in the second half after a lazy defensive play. James Wiseman took Drummond’s spot and struggled, missing all five of his field goals in seven minutes.
