The Boston Celtics got the 2024-25 NBA season underway on Tuesday night and they kicked off the campaign with a convincing win over the Knicks at TD Garden.
Celtics Dominate Knicks
Boston were celebrating on Tuesday night and although the Knicks came to spoil the Celtics banner raising ceremony, they weren’t able to stop last year’s NBA champions.
Their 18th championship banner was raised into the rafters before the game with some of the players stepping onto the court to address fans and thank them for the last year.
One of the greatest Celtics teams of all time 🏆 pic.twitter.com/6AGanhmHhT
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) October 22, 2024
Boston’s roster is almost exactly the same as last year after 13 players resigned from the championship winning year and they kicked off the season in the same manor they finished last yea – dominant.
Jayson Tatum went off on opening night and despite only playing three quarters in his first game of the year, the 26-year-old still managed 37 points, 10 assists and four rebounds in just half an hour on the floor.
Although they were without Kristaps Porzingis as he recovers from surgery in the summer, the Celtics didn’t struggle at any point against New York and they went on to win by 23 points – emptying the bench for the final quarter.
Jaylen Brown and Derrick White both went off for over 20 points each, but the whole Boston team contributed to an important first win on opening night. The Celtics play their second game of the season on Thursday afternoon with a road trip to Washington.
Cause For Concern For Knicks?
Although there is no shame to losing to last season’s championship winners, the Knicks were dismantled by Boston on Tuesday night and there could be cause for concern after just one game this year.
New York struggled on defense throughout the night and they shipped 132 points in the game, with Boston breaking all sorts of franchise records in an offensive masterclass.
Much unlike their opponents on Tuesday, the Knicks have a very new-look team this year and both Mikal Bridges and Karl-Anthony Towns started for New York.
Bridges was clearly trying a new style of jump shot in warm ups and it was difficult to watch him struggle with it during the game, but New York’s newest star finally started to get into a rhythm when he switched back to his old shot.
Mikal Bridges jump shot looks broken🥶
pic.twitter.com/m80bxcBGDS— NetsFrequent 👑 (@NetsFrequent) October 19, 2024
Bridges finished with 16 points in a disappointing debut but it could have been a lot worse if he stuck with the new shot technique. KAT was also disappointing with seven rebounds and 12 points but he was on the floor for just 24 minutes, 11 less than Bridges.
If there is one player the Knicks can rely on, it is new team captain Jalen Brunson. Brunson as usual carried the Knicks going forward with 22 points, a tally that only McBride could match from the bench.
There won’t be too much concern in New York just yet but they key takeaway from their opening night loss would be that the defense really needs working on and soon.
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