BOSTON — A loss to the Celtics reinforced the obvious: if Jalen Brunson is this bad, the Knicks don’t have much of a chance.
The star point guard completed his worst game of the season in Tuesday’s 123-117 defeat to the Celtics, missing 15 of his 21 attempts with three turnovers as the Knicks’ road woes continued.
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The defeat snapped a four-game winning streak for the Knicks (13-7), who fell to 3-6 away from MSG.
And it happened because Brunson was uncharacteristically off.
Jordan Walsh of the Boston Celtics guards Jalen Brunson of the New York Knicks in the first quarter of a game at TD Garden on December 2, 2025 in Boston, Massachusetts. Getty Images
Way off.
He went 1-for-8 from beyond the arc, including an open trey with just over five minutes left that barely touched the rim. Most of his jumpers were short.
“I didn’t do my team any type of service,” Brunson said. “Yeah, that’s a little unfortunate.”
Still, the Knicks battled back from big deficits — including 18 early in the fourth quarter — to cut it to 3 with 2:40 remaining. Flashbacks of the playoff miracle Knicks comebacks at TD Garden probably infiltrated minds in the stands and on the court.
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But Brunson flubbed two floaters in the final two minutes, killing the dream of a repeat as Boston’s Jordan Walsh snared multiple clutch rebounds in the closing seconds.
“Throughout the game,” Brunson said, “I just didn’t help at all.”
Mikal Bridges, who dropped 35 points on 12-of-17 shooting (including 8-for-12 on 3s), did his best to drag the Knicks to a win.
It wasn’t enough as Brunson’s dud was too much to overcome.
“I thought he got the normal looks that he normally takes. So he’s got to keep shooting them, he’s got to keep getting to his spots,” coach Mike Brown said of his star point guard. “I thought he took good 3s, too. They just didn’t go in. And that happens sometimes. So a guy like him, he’s got to keep letting it fly if he’s open.”
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For the first seven minutes, the Knicks were stellar. Josh Hart was burying 3-pointers at an outrageous clip, dropping 11 points in the opening quarter. Karl-Anthony Towns was a force. Miles McBride was knocking down treys.
Karl-Anthony Towns of the New York Knicks speaks with referee Marat Kogut in the first quarter of a game against the Boston Celtics at TD Garden on December 2, 2025 in Boston, Massachusetts. Getty Images
The Knicks started with a 17-4 run after tipoff.
But it deteriorated by halftime, largely because they had no answer for Jaylen Brown. The Celtics star dropped 18 of his 42 points in the second quarter, feasting on a leaky defense as the Knicks reserves — namely backup point guard Tyler Kolek — couldn’t keep up.
Kolek was on the floor for only 15 minutes and the Knicks were outscored by 23 points. Mitchell Robinson’s playing time was also a big negative for New York and included the season’s first deployment of Hack-A-Mitch.
Knicks guard Mikal Bridges (25) attempts a basket against the Boston Celtics during the first half at the TD Garden. Brian Fluharty-Imagn Images
The offense, meanwhile, went stagnant as the Knicks managed just 44 combined points in the second and third quarters.
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“We can’t get bored with what’s working, what’s winning basketball,” Hart said. “I felt like we got bored doing that. And then we started doing whatever, playing bad offense, giving up anything defensively. So we’ve got to make sure we’re locked in on making sure the success of the team is the No. 1 objective.
“I mean, it’s human nature sometimes when you get those big leads. Now you’re up 15, up 20 sometimes, let me figure out a way to score, how to get mine. Not in a bad way. That’s human nature. We’ve got to try to combat that. We’ve got to make sure even when we get up 15, we get up 20, we’re continuing to push the pace, continuing to play fast, continuing to play our basketball. I think it’s frankly just kind of stupidity to play one style of basketball, get a 15, 20-point lead, and then abandon what got you the lead. We’ve got to make sure we continue to focus on that and build off of it.”
Nonetheless, no Knick was as bad as Brunson. And it’s hard to win when the best player shoots under 30 percent.
The good news is Brunson has a quick shot at redemption with the Hornets coming to the Garden on Wednesday in the second game of a back-to-back.
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“Things like that happen,” said Towns, who had 29 points in 33 minutes. “It’s 82 games in the season and he’s one of the best players in the NBA. So things happen. He didn’t lose his mojo. We know who he is, what he does. So he’s going to be all right. I expect him to bounce back like he’s been doing all season.”