NEW YORK — The Knicks honored their past at halftime and looked painfully stuck in it by the final horn.
On a night when Carmelo Anthony, Patrick Ewing, Walt Frazier and a parade of legends were welcomed back under the “Once a Knick, always a Knick” banner, the present-day Knicks couldn’t buy a bucket, couldn’t get a stop, and couldn’t convince anyone that this is a championship-caliber defense — with or without Jalen Brunson.
The result: a flat, frustrating 106–99 loss to the Phoenix Suns, a team that arrived reeling, missing rhythm, and desperate — and left Madison Square Garden looking reborn behind Devin Booker’s 27 points and a familiar Knicks collapse.
This was supposed to be the night Mikal Bridges reminded everyone why the Knicks paid a king’s ransom for him.
Instead, without Brunson and Josh Hart (both sidelined with ankle injuries), Bridges looked more like a very good complementary piece than the franchise-altering star New York thought it was getting when it emptied the vault on Brooklyn.
And yes, sir, the question is getting louder by the game:
Did the Nets fleece the Knicks?
Exposed without Brunson
Bridges finished the night as more of a ghost than a go-to guy, disappearing when the Knicks needed a steady hand. With Brunson out, the offense was begging for a true alpha to grab control.
It never happened.
Karl-Anthony Towns and Deuce McBride carried the scoring load with 23 apiece. OG Anunoby added 21. And Bridges? He was there — moving, cutting, defending — but not imposing, not bending the game, not answering Booker when the Suns made their move.
That’s the problem.
Without Brunson, the Knicks didn’t just lose their point guard. They lost their identity. And Bridges, the player they bet their future on, didn’t look capable of becoming that identity.
A real No. 1 doesn’t fade when the lights get hotter.
A real No. 1 doesn’t watch Collin Gillespie hit a backbreaking three and Booker follow with a three-point play without punching back.
The decisive stretch — and the familiar ending
The Knicks were tied 87–87 late in the fourth in an ugly, grinding game that felt like it was begging for one player to take it over.
Phoenix did.
Gillespie drilled a three.
Booker bullied his way to a three-point play.
Mark Williams knocked down two free throws.
Just like that, it was 95–87 — and over.
New York went 1-for-10 from three in the fourth quarter, with Towns hearing boos after airballing a wide-open attempt that summed up the night. Seventeen turnovers, rushed shots, and a defense that never found its spine.
Booker shot just 7-for-18, but lived at the line (12-for-14), manipulating a Knicks defense that is supposed to be elite.
That’s the bigger red flag.
Championship defense? Not even close.
Even with Brunson, this team hasn’t defended like a contender.
Without him, it was exposed.
Grayson Allen had 16.
Mark Williams had 14.
Phoenix — a team that had lost two straight on its road trip — walked into the Garden and dictated terms.
For all the talk about “Thibs defense,” this group can’t consistently close, can’t consistently communicate, and can’t consistently protect the paint when it matters most.
That’s not a bad night.
That’s a bad trend.
The uncomfortable truth
Bridges was supposed to be the bridge (no pun intended) from very good to great.
Instead, he looks more like a luxury role player who thrives next to a star — not the star himself.
And that makes the trade look worse by the week.
Because if he can’t carry a shorthanded Knicks team on a night like this — against a struggling Suns team — then what exactly did the Knicks pay for?
The alumni in black jackets were honored for what the Knicks once were.
The current Knicks walked off the floor reminding everyone how far they still are from being what they want to be.
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