Jalen Brunson takes the blame as the Knicks become the first defending champion to start 0-3 since 2011-12

Jalen Brunson put the Knicks' winless start on himself after Sunday's 111-102 loss to the Orlando Magic at Madison Square Garden.

"Everything falls on my shoulders," Brunson said, according to ESPN. "I just got to be a better leader when it comes to that, when it comes to our guys are ready to go in the right spots. There's a lot of other little things, but it's organization on my part."

New York is 0-3. ESPN said the last defending champion to lose its first three games was the 2011-12 Dallas Mavericks, who won in their fourth game.

Brunson scored a team-high 28 points Sunday but shot 12 of 28 and made one of seven 3-pointers. The Knicks went 9 for 38 from deep as a team. They opened the game on a 12-0 run, led by just four at halftime and gave up 40 points in the fourth quarter after leading by 10 with 9:20 left. The Knicks came into the day 29th in offensive efficiency.

"Everyone can say it's early in the season; we can use that as an excuse," Brunson said. "When we get those runs, we start to look like the team that we've been in the past. We get a little comfortable."

Coach Mike Brown was blunter. "Games like this will tell us, our crap stinks. It does," he said. When asked whether his team looked lethargic or a step slow, he said, "Yeah, we do," and added that there was "no crispness or sharpness" in the frontcourt on either end.

Brown pulled backup center Andre Drummond in the first half after Wendell Carter Jr. beat him down the floor for a layup. Orlando forced 10 turnovers and made 8 of 18 3-pointers in the second half, and Franz Wagner scored 21 of his 23 points in the fourth.

Next up are the unbeaten Detroit Pistons, who visit the Garden on Tuesday.