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The champions were brought back down to earth.
They believe they will be better off for it.
“I think it’s good for us to kind of get knocked down off the mountain,” Jalen Brunson said after the Knicks’ 106-100 season-opening loss to the 76ers on Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden. “Humble ourselves, put our egos in check and see what’s going to happen. I’ve told you guys since Day 1, whatever happens these first couple of weeks of the season, it’s gonna show who we truly are. So let’s see.”
It only added to that dynamic that the 76ers — now with LeBron James and Jaylen Brown — have championship expectations and are considered one of the top threats to the Knicks’ chances of repeating. If the Knicks are now the hunted, it was an immediate litmus test against one of the most dangerous hunters.
The pregame ceremony, when the Knicks raised the banner and collected their rings, was recognized by the players as the official end of the championship. They are no longer that team. They can’t just assume they will pick up right where they left off.
And they don’t want to view themselves as champions. They’re back to square one, just like the rest of the NBA.
“We shouldn’t sit there and think we’re the champions because we’re not,” Josh Hart said. “We’re 0-1. We’re the worst team in the NBA right now. So we need to play like it.”
They were far from their normal standards in terms of pace, ball movement and help defending. Identifying those problems could be more beneficial in the long term than a regular-season win.
“I want to win, don’t get me wrong,” coach Mike Brown said. “Don’t get that twisted at all. I want to freaking win, but not at the expense of us skipping steps in the process.”
A bit of a humbling was an important part of that process.