'Our Crap Stinks,' Mike Brown Reacts to Knicks' 0-3 Start as Jalen Brunson Takes Blame

New York Knicks coach Mike Brown believes three straight losses might be a humbling his team needs as it tries to defend its NBA championship.

"Games like this will tell us, our crap stinks. It does," Brown said after a 111-102 defeat to the Orlando Magic, per ESPN's Vincent Goodwill. "And we're the only ones who can do anything about it. There's no light switch we can just turn on and go and win the ballgame. Nobody's giving us anything, so we have to be better with the little things until we start shooting the ball."

Knicks star Jalen Brunson said the buck stops with him.

"Everything falls on my shoulders," he told reporters while referencing the offense. "I just got to be a better leader when it comes to that, when it comes to our guys are ready to go in the right spots. There's a lot of other little things, but it's organization on my part."

Brunson had a game-high 28 points against the Magic but shot just 1-of-7 from beyond the arc.

Magic-Knicks Highlights

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For the most part, the starting lineup delivered, though Mikal Bridges was held in check. One big difference was the bench as Magic reserves Tristan da Silva and Anthony Black combined to score 37 points. New York's bench, on the other hand, had 11 points collectively.

Brunson thinks the Knicks "get a little comfortable" when they have dominant stretches. Then the momentum dissipates.

"We have to continue to put our foot on the gas and execute things like we did last year," he said, per The Athletic's James L. Edwards III. "We're not going to be the same. We're not going to play how we were playing last year; that's just human nature. But we have to accept this part of the journey, find a way to get better, and hopefully after a couple of games, we can look back and say, 'We grew from that.'"

A consequence of winning the title is that a team will likely have a difficult first week. The NBA wants to leverage the excitement of a new season to maximum effect, and that means having high-profile matchups.

The Knicks have had to face off with three playoff teams from a year ago. They tipped off the campaign against the new-look Philadelphia 76ers before taking on the Boston Celtics and then Orlando.

An 0-3 record obviously isn't ideal, but it can be beneficial from the standpoint of getting everybody refocused.

Another Eastern Conference contender is on tap next, the Detroit Pistons. The Knicks host them Tuesday at Madison Square Garden.

Notching a victory would go some way toward lowering the anxiety level in the Big Apple.