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Knicks finally can exhale after returning to their championship identity

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Knicks finally can exhale after returning to their championship identity
Mike Vaccaro

Mike Vaccaro

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Karl-Anthony Towns, who had 27 points and 20 rebounds, shoots a fadeaway jumper over John Collins during the fourth quarter of the Knicks' 111-97 win over the Pistons on Oct. 27, 2026 at Madison Square Garden.
Karl-Anthony Towns, who had 27 points and 20 rebounds, shoots a fadeaway jumper over John Collins during the fourth quarter of the Knicks’ 111-97 win over the Pistons on Oct. 27, 2026 at Madison Square Garden. Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post

Sure, it looked grim. The Garden was glum. Patience was being tested, all around the gym. The supply of serenity was running out. The Knicks couldn’t shoot — again. The Knicks couldn’t defend — again. The Pistons scored 38 points in the first quarter, after the Magic dropped 40 on them in the fourth Sunday.

The Knicks only scored 25.

The Knicks were 0-3 and it sure looked like they were careening toward 0-4. We already knew the last defending champion to start a season 0-4 was the 1969-70 Celtics, the first Boston team of the post-Bill Russell Era. There are a lot of Celtics things the Knicks would love to emulate. This was not one of them.

And maybe, if you were feeling a little bit of an extra gallows mood, you started looking up who the last defending champion was to start a season 0-5. And the answer to that one was even more chilling: No defending champ has ever started 0-5.

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