The Knicks will not go 0-82. After a surprisingly ugly 0-3 start to the season, the defending champions came away with an emphatic 14-point win against a short-handed Pistons that gave them fits all last season. But less than 24 hours later, the Knicks have a chance to start their first win streak of the season. And they’ll attempt to do so in what should be the easiest game of the season.
Lost in the talk surrounding the Knicks’ slow start has been the fact that the start to their road to a repeat
has been filled with some really tough tests. The new-look 76ers have four All-Star players, the revamped Celtics look dangerous once again, and the Magic, despite being without Paolo Banchero, have always put up good fights against the Knicks. But tonight, New York finally gets to go up against a team that doesn’t enter the season with aspirations of a deep postseason run.
The 1-3 Bulls enter Wednesday night with a league-worst minus-18.3 net rating. While they did beat the Bucks, another very bad team, two of their three losses have been by 35+ points. It’s been ugly. Rookie forward Caleb Wilson has given Chicago fans something to cheer for, though. He’s averaging 18.5PPG on 41.9% shooting from the field despite going just 5-for-28 from three so far. Other than that, though, it’s been rather bleak.
The offense is close to nonexistent. Normal Powell is the only other Bull to average more than 14PPG. They have multiple rotation players shooting under 40% from the field. And their defense is arguably worse, giving up over 130 points in three of their four games. They are a young team lacking any real star power outside of the aforementioned Wilson. They lack a real identity. And overall, they just look like a team that will remain one of the worst in the league for the entirety of the season, if not longer.
Luckily, the same cannot be said about the Knicks. While their start left a lot to be desired, the Knicks have showed signs of turning the corner. Jalen Brunson has still struggled from the floor. Karl-Anthony Towns still has silly fouls. Miles McBride’s role and minutes seem to be in flux. And you never really know what you’ll get from the Andre Drummond minutes. But as we all know, there’s a really good basketball team in there somewhere. While they’ve yet to put together 48 full minutes of high quality two-way basketball, the tide seems to be turning.
Towns has been an unstoppable force when on the court. Anunoby has found new ways to contribute offensively including getting to the free throw line more and being a bit more of a playmaker. Mikal Bridges and Landry Shamet finally woke up last night. And when the Knicks get the good Drummond, he looks good, and sometimes even great.
The offense still looks a bit wonky at times, but they’ve for the most part just been missing shots they usually make. The quality of looks they are generating has been solid. And defensively, we’ve seen plenty of glimpses of the defense we saw from them last postseason.
Josh Hart has spent much of the early portions of the season very active on that end of the floor. Bridges played Cade Cunningham much more physical after the first quarter last night. And as a team, their activity level has been solid albeit it not being consistent.
The Knicks should win this game. And they should do so easily. It’s difficult to predict which version of the Knicks we’ll get. Will Brunson regain his touch? What kind of game will Bridges have? Can Towns continue to be the dominant force he’s been? Is Anunoby’s shot going to come back? Are the Knicks ready to fully turn the corner? We don’t know. And truthfully, with all due respect to the Knicks, it shouldn’t matter. The Knicks have way more talent and even on their worst nights, should have enough to beat the Bulls on the second night of a back-to-back. Hopefully though, they can not only come away with a win but do so in dominant fashion. Don’t play with your food, take care of business, get your guys back on track, and let the bench get extended minutes.
Game Details
Who: New York Knicks (1-3) at Chicago Bulls (1-3)
Date: Wednesday, October 28, 2026
Time: 8 PM ET
Place: United Center Chicago, IL
TV: MSG
Follow:@ptknicksblog andbsky
