New York got the Bulls again on Nov. 4, just one week after beating them the previous Wednesday, and this time the game came with both teams still trying to settle in. The rematch put the Knicks in front of a 1-6 Bulls team while New York worked through an early-season stretch that has not looked like its best basketball.
That is why the meeting has been drawing attention. The Knicks are not only trying to keep winning; they are also trying to figure out why the same kinds of shots are not falling for Jalen Brunson and others. One team source said Brunson is taking the same shots he has taken in the past and is simply missing them, not hunting bad looks. The same source said the Knicks, for the most part, are taking the right shots, and that the misses may be more about timing and rhythm than decision-making.
The broader worry is not that the Knicks have suddenly forgotten how to play. It is that early success can hide problems that later become harder to fix. One team source said the group is seeing challenges it needs to work on while it is struggling, and that the club could be winning games right now while still living in a false reality. That is a sharp way of saying the start has been messy enough to reveal what needs attention, even if the standings have not yet fully punished them for it.
There is also a simpler explanation for the shooting that does not require a dramatic theory. The same source said Brunson is taking the same shots as before and should eventually see them fall if he keeps working. The question of whether his offseason wrist surgery is part of the problem was not answered, but the description offered in New York points in a different direction: missed rhythm, not wrong choices. In that view, the issue is less about shot selection than whether the shots that were reliable before are still finding the rim now.
That is where the Knicks’ own frustration and confidence sit side by side. They are saying they are not playing their best basketball, yet they also believe the process is mostly sound. If that is right, then the result they want is not far off. The next test is whether the same shots against the same opponent produce a better answer than they did a week ago.
