Knicks lose 3rd in a row as defensive issues persist in loss to 76ers

Kristian Winfield, New York Daily News on Jan 3, 2026

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NEW YORK — The Knicks can’t get the stops they’ve paid their best players to string together.

It’s the common denominator in their newfound three-game losing streak, which took another left turn in a 130-119 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers on Saturday.

Sixers All-Star Tyrese Maxey splashed a fading step-back 3-pointer with 3:34 left in the fourth quarter to give Philadelphia a 12-point late-game lead. It was part of a solo eight-point fourth-quarter run that vaulted Maxey to 36 points on 14-of-22 shooting on the night — five points above his career-best season average.

Maxey, however, wasn’t a solo act. He got help from rookie VJ Edgecombe, the third-overall pick in the 2025 NBA draft who impacted the game with his blend of athleticism and 3-point shooting for 26 points on 10-of-16 shooting from the field.

Yet these are the very players the Knicks invested so heavily in their perimeter defenders to slow down.

The Knicks traded RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley for OG Anunoby, then re-signed him to a franchise-richest five-year, $212.5 million contract extension largely because of his abilities on the defensive end

The same goes for Bridges: The Knicks paid the hefty price of five first-round picks then re-signed him to a four-year, $150 million extension because of his ability to defend the point of attack.

Yet the wings couldn’t get stops on Saturday, New York’s interior defense dissolved even with Mitchell Robinson on the floor, and the Knicks’ firepower couldn’t carry them where their defense fell short: Even 20 points off the bench from Miles McBride couldn’t swing things back in the Knicks’ favor.

But this appears to be a new script playing out in real-time at The Garden of mid-season nightmares: The Knicks trailed the 76ers by one after the first quarter then lost the middle two quarters by a combined 14 points. In the first leg of their back-to-back on Friday against the Hawks, the Knicks lost the first quarter by three before losing the second and third by a grand total of 29. And against the San Antonio Spurs, the first of their current three-game losing streak, the Knicks won the first quarter, 45-36, and were within a one-point spread in the middle two quarters before falling apart in the final frame of a two-point loss.

Maybe this is life after the NBA Cup Final. No NBA Cup winner, for example, has gone on to make the NBA Finals in the first three years of its existence. In fact, every team to win the Cup has struggled immediately out of the gate, perhaps in large part due to the emotional high of winning a largely meaningless title, only to return to the humbling reality that the games are still coming 100 miles an hour.

Last season, the Milwaukee Bucks entered the NBA Cup Final with a 14-11 record, beat the Oklahoma City to win it, then found themselves at a 17-16 record by Jan. 4.

The same goes for the Los Angeles Lakers, who were 14-9 entering the NBA Cup Final then immediately proceeded to lose 10 of their next 13 games,

The Knicks were 18-7 entering their NBA Cup victory over the San Antonio Spurs, a game the NBA doesn’t count in team or player season stats.

They are since 5-5, riding a three-game losing streak, each loss increasing in equal parts embarrassment and disappointment.

Jalen Brunson finished with 31 points on 10-of-21 shooting from the field, doing much of his damage at the foul line (9 of 12). Karl-Anthony Towns eventually found his way to 23 points and 14 rebounds but only scored two points on 1-of-6 shooting in the first half before forcing the issue.

Joel Embiid also finished with 26 points, 10 rebounds and five assists.

The Knicks now have a much-needed day off before flying to Detroit for their next challenge: a date with the top-seeded Pistons, who are sure to ratchet up the intensity and physicality against the team responsible for ending their season in the first round last season.