Jalen Brunson Takes Responsibility For Knicks 'Unacceptable' Loss

Brunson was called upon to be the New York Knicks' offensive leader. He's taking full responsibility for the team's shortcomings on Wednesday.

The new-look New York Knicks were subjected to the a similarly dreary result against the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday night.

Leave it to the Trae Young Hawks to knock the Knicks off their relative high horse mounted in the early going: Atlanta not only extended the Knicks' first losing streak of the season to three games but they also bestowed New York its first home loss of the season at Madison Square Garden and limited them to double-figures in scoring via a 112-99 defeat ... one that saw them erase a 23-point first-half deficit in the process. 

The good vibes that seaped through the Knicks' opening week, partly brought about by Jalen Brunson's contributions to sweeping a three-game homestand, have effectively evaporated after the Atlanta debacle, which has united with road losses in Milwaukee and Cleveland to create a familiar, losing aura amongst the Knicks. 

While Brunson was cited as an active reason behind New York's early momentum, he was willing to take on the brunt of criticism for a lifeless second half that saw the Knicks get outscored by a 21-point margin. He gave Atlanta crediit for making up "a decent amount" but knew that the Knicks wrote their own tragic ending.

“We just came out a little lackadaisical,” Brunson said of the Knicks' dreary second half in video from SNY. “As a point guard, as a leader, I got to take credit for that. That’s just unacceptable on my part.”

To Brunson's point, the Knicks (3-4) gave up the first dozen points of the second half after the Hawks ended the first on a 29-16 run. They lost the ball 10 times in the third quarter alone, matching a measley point total as Atlanta (5-3) took the lead for good. 

That made it easier for a Hawks team missing Trae Young (eye contusion) for a majority of the latter portions to pull away from the downtrodden Knicks, who allowed Dejounte Murray to earn a career-best 36 points in the win. True to form, Young later came back, complete with protective eyewear, and offered some cruel parting shots to the team he's routinely tormented since the opening round of the 2021 postseason that marred the Knicks' finest campaign in eight years. 

When all was said and done, Brunson stood as one of the one of the Knicks' rare silver linings, leading the team with 20 points on 8-of-15 shooting. He's only interesting in a stat on a very specific box score, namely the standings. 

"We didn’t close out that second quarter the way we wanted to,” said Brunson. “We were up 23 or whatever it was, and they obviously cut that down. We were easing our way into the second half, and they were putting their foot to the pedal. They were going 100 miles an hour, and we were going 50. We got to do better at that point.”

The road gets no easier for Brunson and the Knicks, who next face the Philadelphia 76ers on Friday night on the road (7 p.m. ET, MSG). 

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Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffJMags

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