Knicks' Jalen Brunson presents Harry Styles with banner as MSG residency closes
Jalen Brunson took the Garden stage Saturday to give Harry Styles a banner for his 30-show residency, two nights before the 2-4 Knicks host Brooklyn.
Madison Square Garden hung one more banner this fall, and a Knicks star handed it over. Jalen Brunson walked on stage Saturday night to give Harry Styles a commemorative banner marking the end of his 30-show Together, Together residency, ESPN reported. The crowd met the Knicks guard with chants of "MVP."
The Oct. 31 show closed out a run that had Styles at the Garden every Wednesday, Friday and Saturday for 10 weeks. Rolling Stone called the stretch record-breaking and noted the presentation came on the second of Styles' two Harryween nights. Brunson showed up in a "Techno Is My Boyfriend" cap, the same one Styles has been photographed wearing. The two hugged, and Styles joked about how close they were in height. Brunson answered by promising to give the hat back.
It wasn't Brunson's first night at the residency. ESPN reported he had been to two earlier shows, and Styles called him out from the stage on Sept. 12. The appearance fits an offseason the franchise spent celebrating its first title since 1973, won in a Finals against San Antonio that came after the Knicks' NBA Cup win.
The banner Brunson handed over Saturday is the kind the Knicks have struggled to back up on the court so far. Philadelphia beat New York at the Garden on opening night, the same night the championship banner went up, and did it again Friday, 98-93, in the Knicks' first NBA Cup game of the new season. The Taipei Times, carrying AFP's report, said Tyrese Maxey scored 27 and LeBron James added 20, including a late tip-in, after the Sixers led by 14 in the third quarter. Brunson's step-back 3 had put New York ahead 90-89 with 1:32 left before Philadelphia closed the game out.
What it means for Monday against Brooklyn
Brunson's next trip to the Garden stage is a working one. The Knicks host the Brooklyn Nets on Monday, Nov. 2, with the game on NBA League Pass, DAZN and YES. New York comes in at 2-4, a slow start for a defending champion. Every game so far has been close, and the Knicks have lost most of the close ones.
The pattern is clear. Four of New York's six games have been decided by six points or fewer, and the Knicks lost all four: 106-100 to Philadelphia at home, 107-103 at Boston, and Friday's 98-93 in Philadelphia, plus a nine-point home loss to Orlando, 111-102. Both wins came in the middle of the stretch, a 111-97 home win over Detroit and a 133-127 shootout in Chicago, which made 2-2 look like a turning point before Friday's loss.
Home has been the bigger problem. The Knicks are 1-2 at the Garden, with the Detroit game their only home win. Monday starts a chance to fix that, and to get back to .500, against a crosstown opponent. The offense has been streaky. New York reached 133 in Chicago but scored 103 or fewer in each of the four losses it played on the road or against the Sixers. Late-game execution with Brunson running the offense is still the team's best way to win close games, and it is the area that has let the Knicks down most often.
