A New York Knicks skid reached what fans can only hope is its nadir Monday ina blowout loss to the hapless Dallas Mavericks at home.
This once again — and repeatedly — led to boos from the crowd at Madison Square Garden.
This time, the boos started in the second quarter after the Mavericks built a 49-31 lead. The Knicks previously heard boos from the home crowd in Saturday's 106-99 loss to the Phoenix Suns.
For the second straight night the Knicks hear loud boos from the MSG crowd.pic.twitter.com/EhWBDKCios
— KNICKS BEAST (@KnicksBeast)January 19, 2026
The Knicks did not respond well to Monday's boos. The Mavericks remained in control of the game en route to a 114-97 win to improve to 18-26, good for 12th place in the West.
The loss for the Knicks was their ninth in 11 games. The slump has dropped them from a 23-9 start to 25-18. That's good enough for third place in the East.
But the Knicks are now closer in the standings to the 11th-place Milwaukee Bucks (18-24) than they are to the first-place Detroit Pistons (31-10). And they end Monday 1.5 games behind the much-loathed Boston Celtics (26-16).
Jalen Brunson: 'I'd be booing us too'
All-Stars Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns both heard the boos — obviously. And they understand.
Brunson finished Monday with 22 points and six assists. But he struggled from the field in a 9-of-22 shooting effort. He was asked about the boos at his locker room postgame.
"I'd be booing us too," Brunson said. "Straight up."
"I'd be booing us too. Straight up"- Jalen Brunson on the boos at MSGpic.twitter.com/XtnkiHkqOT
— Knicks Videos (@sny_knicks)January 20, 2026
Towns posted the best effort by a Knick with 22 points and 18 rebounds, but he committed a team-high five turnovers. And he's posted a few duds of his own during the slump, including a six-point, one-rebound effort in a 121-90 loss to the Pistons on Jan. 5.
Like Brunson, he understands the boos. And he put himself in the perspective of a fan paying to attend Monday's Martin Luther King Jr. Day matinee.
Karl-Anthony Towns on the boos at MSG directed at him and the team"You spend $140 to represent your favorite player with a jersey. You come to MLK Day here at The Garden and tickets are 3x the price. I'd be disappointed too"pic.twitter.com/vrTAznt1mV
— Knicks Videos (@sny_knicks)January 20, 2026
"You come, you spend, what $140 bucks to represent your favorite player with a jersey?" Towns said. "And you come to MLK Day here at the Garden and tickets are twice, three times the price?
"And to come here and spend your hard-earned money, money that you've saved up to bring your family to this game and for us to come here and obviously, not only [not] win — which is disappointing — but not really have a chance. I'd be disappointed, too.
"The fans who spend their hard-earned money, they give us so much love and motivation to go out there. They expect the results. And so do we. The fans are doing their part. And we've got to do our part."
If there's any solace for frustrated Knicks fans, it's that those are the exact kind of responses you want to hear from star players who just got booed off their home court for another poor showing.
But that won't stop the boos. Only winning will.
