The End of Knicks’ brutal loss is only the beginning of this team’s story

The joint is fixed to jump. The ball looked good as it left Jalen Brunson’s fingers. It certainly looked like it was going in as it settled softly on the rim. And from various areas around Madison Square Garden there was a premature spasm of joy. From there, it could have appeared that the ball went in.

The ball didn’t go in.

“I thought it was in,” Mikal Bridges said, “and it wasn’t.”

The ball spun out, and when it did, the Knicks had suffered their first heartbreaking loss of the season, a 124-123 blowout to the Bulls that was exciting as hell, because for all 48 minutes we were treated to the very best and the very worst of what this team is capable of, especially in the first quadrant of this season.