Five games in, the Knicks give up as much as they score, and their most expensive five gets outplayed. Brunson and Towns are carrying the load while Bridges sinks and the cap sheet leaves no room to buy help.
Starters Are Sinking
Towns, Anunoby, Hart, Bridges and Brunson have played 68 minutes together across five games. They are at minus 7.6 per 100 possessions, scoring 96.6 and allowing 104.2. That is the core that won a title, and right now it loses its minutes. Sixty-eight minutes is a small sample, so this does not convict the group. It does mean the two-game win streak came from somewhere other than the opening five.
Dead Even
New York sits at a 110.7 offensive rating and a 110.9 defensive rating, a net of minus 0.2. That fits a 2-3 record exactly: no bad luck, no hidden edge. The Knicks also play at a 99.0 pace while Philadelphia runs at 104.0 with a plus-3.3 net. The Sixers won both meetings so far, 120-97 and 106-100. Tonight New York has to slow the game down or watch it get away again.
Bridges Goes Missing
Bridges is averaging 5.0 points in 26.9 minutes and shooting 25.0 percent from deep, on a $33.5M contract. The New York Post reported he was benched during the comeback in Chicago. Five games do not make a decline, and fan podcasts are already arguing the slow start is no cause for alarm. But a wing paid like a core piece cannot finish behind Shamet, who is at 9.2 points and 46.2 percent from deep.
Two Men Pulling
Brunson is at 25.8 points and 5.0 assists, and he has scored 30 or more in three straight games. Towns is putting up 21.8 points, 13.8 boards and 40.9 percent from deep. Towns carries a day-to-day tag for his left wrist, with an estimated return of October 30. If the wrist holds him back, the burden on Brunson grows heavier, and so does the case against the starting five.
No Escape Hatch
Payroll is $220.4M against a $200.4M tax line, and the club is above the first apron. The 2027 and 2029 first-round picks belong to Brooklyn. Help has to come from inside the roster. The current pace projects to 33-49, which is a warning, not a forecast: 77 games remain and New York is one game back of sixth. The math says fix the starters, because the front office has nothing left to spend.
Why are the Knicks 2-3 to start the season?
They allow as much as they score, with a 110.7 offensive rating against a 110.9 defensive rating. Their regular starting five is at minus 7.6 in 68 minutes together.
Will Karl-Anthony Towns play against the 76ers?
Towns is day-to-day with a left wrist issue, and his estimated return date is October 30, the day of the game. No final decision is listed.
