On Saturday, with just over nine minutes left in the final quarter, the Madison Square Garden crowd was electric as they rallied behind the Knicks in an intense showdown against the Phoenix Suns. The arena, filled with both current and former Knicks players, echoed with the fans’ fervent support, urging their team to seize control of the game.

Chants of “Let’s go, Knicks” reverberated through the stands as supporters tried to inspire their team to a much-needed victory, hoping to halt a downward spiral that had persisted since the NBA Cup.

At that moment, the Knicks were trailing by one point, struggling to maintain their footing without stars Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart, both sidelined with right ankle injuries. Despite their efforts, they fell behind by double digits with a little over three minutes remaining, ultimately succumbing to a 106-99 loss in the presence of franchise legends, marking their eighth defeat in the last ten games.

In the game’s final minute, the Knicks had an opportunity to narrow Phoenix’s lead to four points. However, Karl-Anthony Towns missed a crucial open three-pointer from the top of the key, air-balling the shot.

Moments before, the crowd’s fervor had been directed at cheering for the Knicks, but their disappointment quickly turned to boos aimed at their All-Star center. Among those witnessing the team’s struggles were Knicks icons like Carmelo Anthony and Steve Novak, who observed the current turmoil of a team once seen as championship contenders.

Now, the Knicks find themselves slipping to the third seed in the Eastern Conference. Their record since New Year’s Eve stands at a disappointing 2-8, with the absence of Hart in six of the last nine games contributing to their decline.

“I like that [our alumni] are in the building. It’s pretty neat to have them here,” head coach Mike Brown said ahead of tipoff. “But as a coach you hope that we don’t need any extra motivation at all. You hope that we come out and we can do things we need to do to get a win.”

The Knicks did some of those things. With Brunson and Hart out of the rotation, Brown started Miles McBride and rookie Mohamed Diawara alongside Towns, Mikal Bridges and OG Anunoby.

McBride made five threes on 11 attempts for 23 points, and OG Anunoby finished with 21 points on 6-of-17 shooting from the field. Towns, who picked up five fouls for the third straight game, shot 7-of-16 from the field and finished with 23 points and 11 rebounds, unable to dominate a game Brunson sat due to injury.

And he missed the most important shot of the night–a shot that clearly held the weight of a franchise in flux.

Meanwhile, the Knicks lost a second game this season to a Suns team built on physicality and tough play. Devin Booker led the way with 27 points in his first game back from an ankle injury, but the Suns won with their defense, plus a bench that got 29 combined points from Grayson Allen and Jordan Goodwin.

The shorthanded Knicks mustered just 14 points from their second unit as their struggles continue after going 3-1 in their four-game West Coast road trip.

“I thought we played well in Portland, everybody was healthy. I thought we did a really good job on both sides of the ball throughout most of the game. Obviously we got to Sacramento and we didn’t play well. It’s unfortunate that Jalen got hurt early in the game,” Brown said ahead of tipoff. “I don’t know if that took some mojo out of us or what, but we could have been better on both sides of the ball. And I thought in Golden State the guys responded well. We just didn’t — it’s tough, we didn’t have enough to close down the stretch. The game could have gone either way.

“I thought our overall play was pretty good with the exception of a few things, and hopefully we can continue to build on it.”

Next up, the Knicks host the Dallas Mavericks in a 5 p.m. tipoff on Monday. The Mavericks are among the worst teams in the NBA with Anthony Davis and Kyrie Irving out due to injury.

If the Knicks can’t get back on track against Dallas, they’ll have serious questions to answer ahead of the Feb. 5 NBA Trade Deadline.