As the great Yogi Berra once said, “It gets late early out there.” The same goes for the 0-3 New York Knicks after the Orlando Magic outworked them at home without their best player, Paolo Banchero (ankle).

The Knicks became the first defending NBA champions since 2011 to start 0-3, and just the third all-time. In a talented Eastern Conference, they can’t afford to slide much farther, as worries mount.

Fans Voice Growing Concerns As Winless Knicks Make Dubious History

It’s unclear whether the Knicks are suffering a mental hangover from their championship, some kind of malaise, or a potential roster deficiency. Perhaps it’s all of the above, but the wider NBA community is wondering what is going on inside Madison Square Garden.

NBA insider Brett Siegel pointed out New York’s unwanted history on Sunday:

“The Knicks are the first defending champions since the Mavericks in 2011 to lose each of their first three games of the new season. Dallas went on to lose in the first round of the playoffs that year as the defending champions.”

Legion Hoops also posted a remarkable graphic, tweeting: “The two most expensive rosters in the NBA haven’t gotten a win yet this season.”

The Golden State Warriors and the Knicks are both winless with a combined payroll of $452 million. Furthermore, the Giannis Antetokounmpo-led Miami Heat are also 0-3, adding to the surprising early-season struggles of some of the league’s highest-profile teams.

New York fan account KnicksMuse rejected excuses and called the 0-3 start “quite embarrassing.” That sentiment was also echoed by Knicks Nation, who tweeted, “Don’t think I had the Knicks opening the season 0-3. Tonight was pretty embarrassing.”

NBA content creator Six Rings of Steel called out Jalen Brunson and Mikal Bridges, saying both need to be better, and concluded: “Championship hangover in full effect right now.”

ESPN’s Sam Block tweeted similarly: “The championship hangover is real.”

Dylan Backer, head of content at Empire Sports Media, astutely described the situation: “Incredible meltdown by the Knicks. They aren’t this bad, but they sure are playing like they are.”

CBS Sports reporter and Knicks fan Ashley Nicole Moss added that the winless start “needs to be a SERIOUS wake-up call for this team.”

A wake-up call appears to be urgently needed, as Orlando outhustled New York and set the tempo. The Magic had more rebounds (49-45) and assists (29-26) and nearly double the points off turnovers (23-12) as they overcame a double-digit fourth-quarter deficit. The Knicks’ transition defense has also been missing in all three games; on Sunday, they allowed 18 3-pointers, many from transition 3s.

Offensively, Brunson continues to struggle, shooting 39.1% overall and 26.7% from deep. Meanwhile, Bridges has been a nonfactor; he followed his previous 0-point effort with just 6 points and is shooting a jarring 0% from long range for the season.

Essentially, the only player in the rotation who looks ready to play is Karl-Anthony Towns. The star big man is averaging 21.0 points and 12.0 rebounds while shooting 62.2% from the field. His teammates, especially Brunson, may need to feed him the ball and make him the focal point of the attack, at least until the starters return to their usual form.

This is a prideful, extremely talented, and hard-working group, so they should turn it around, but it has to start here. It won’t get any easier, however, as New York faces the unbeaten Detroit Pistons (3-0) next.