A Hard Lesson at the Garden: Mavericks Humble the Knicks on MLK Day

 

If you were looking for a feel-good, chest-pounding, “this is our house” kind of Martin Luther King Jr. Day at Madison Square Garden, you picked the wrong matinee.

Because what the Knicks served up instead was a flat, lifeless, thoroughly outclassed performance against a Dallas Mavericks team that came in under .500 and walked out looking like they owned the joint.

114–97. And honestly, it wasn’t even that close.

This was supposed to be a showcase. Full strength. National spotlight. Garden buzzing. Instead, it turned into a reminder of a truth Knicks fans don’t like to hear: pretty records don’t mean much if you can’t match urgency with execution.

Max Christie — yes, that Max Christie — turned the world’s most famous arena into his personal shooting gym. Twenty-six points. Eight three-pointers. Eight. The Knicks kept losing him, kept daring him, kept letting him rise up like he was Ray Allen in his prime. By the time the Garden realized what was happening, it was already over.

And Naji Marshall? The Knicks let him stroll into 19 points on a night where Dallas didn’t even have to be spectacular — just organized, disciplined, and tougher.

That’s the part that should bother Knicks fans most, sir.

Dallas didn’t out-talent them. They out-worked them.

Karl-Anthony Towns did his part — 22 points, 18 rebounds — and I’m not here to knock a man who showed up. But basketball isn’t a one-man confessional. It’s a choir, and the Knicks sounded like they were singing in different keys. One guy crashing the glass, another missing rotations, another dribbling into traffic like he was looking for trouble.

Meanwhile, the Mavericks moved the ball, trusted each other, and played like a team that understood the moment.

This was a game the Knicks needed to win — not because it would have changed the standings dramatically, but because it would have said something about who they are.

Instead, it said something else.

Dallas improved to 18-26. Let that sink in.
The Knicks fell to 25-18 — still a good record, still a playoff team — but nights like this are the ones that come back to haunt you in April when you’re wondering why you’re on the wrong side of the bracket.

MLK Day in the Garden is supposed to be sacred.
Instead, it turned into a reminder that Emirate cups don’t defend the three-point line, and banners don’t box out.

And if the Knicks want to be taken seriously — not as a nice story, not as a tough out, but as a real contender — they’d better learn from a night where the Mavericks walked in, took their lunch money, and left them standing there wondering how it happened.

Without Brunson, Bridges and the Knicks Exposed in Loss to Suns

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.