Although the new-look Philadelphia 76ers crashed banner night, the reignited feeling of winning that championship didn’t let a loss spoil the moment for fans.
It’s back to the 0-0 mentality, as the New York Knicks look forward to their next matchup with the rival Boston Celtics.
Boston is coming off a rollercoaster of a season opener, going up by as much as 22 in the second half but ultimately losing to the Pistons. Paul George wasted no time leaving his mark, dropping his second-most amount of points since he left the Clippers with 38. Jayson Tatum, on the other hand, had one of the worst shooting performances of his career: 23 points, 6-23 from the field, and 0-7 from long distance.
New York didn’t look much better: Jalen Brunson shot six-for-19, OG Anunoby was three-for-12 and just one-of-9 from three-point range, Mikal Bridges went two-for-eight, and Landry Shamet was two-for-seven. Despite the rough performances, the Knicks narrowly won three of the four quarters, but it wasn’t enough to stop Tyrese Maxey and Jaylen Brown.
What to expect: Jalen Brunson’s inevitability
The Knicks are no strangers to disappointing opening nights, as they’re now 1-4 in these games since Brunson’s arrival. In these games, Brunson averages just 19.2 points on 36.7% from the field and 26.9% from 3-point.
This is nothing to mope about, as the Knicks are 4-0 in the second game of the season in that same span. In these games, he averages 26.3 points on 52.1% from the field and 57.1% from 3-point. It’s safe to say he’s due for a bounce-back performance.
Who to keep your eye on: The end of the bench
Under Mike Brown, the Knicks won’t hesitate to go deep into the rotation or leave bench guys out on the floor. Andre Drummond had a massive first half with Karl-Anthony Towns in foul trouble, finishing the game with 12 points and 14 rebounds, seven of which were offensive. He played 16 minutes in the first half to Towns’ six.
It’ll be interesting to see which guys fall in and out of the rotation as the season goes on, but it looks like Jose Alvarado, Miles McBride, Drummond, and Shamet are set in their roles. Jordan Clarkson, despite playing just eight minutes, made some plays, including a dive for a loose ball and an offensive rebound that led to a Towns layup.
Guys like Mohamed Diawara and Tyler Kolek, who were a part of last year’s early-season rotation, logged 0 minutes in the season opener. Both of them did not have great preseasons, with Kolek logging a career low in minutes per game throughout. The Knicks’ rookies, Tyler Nickel and Jaden Akins, will also be awaiting their first minutes of the season.
Celtic to watch: Mitchell Robinson
Mitchell Robinson signed a three-year $47 million contract with the Celtics this offseason, which hurt a lot of fans. Boston is the Knicks’ biggest rivals, and to see a beloved player like him leave to the enemy is going to take some time to get over.
But it’s obvious that what he brings to the table is enough to start in this league, and he still came off the bench for New York with no complaints. He comes into this matchup against two great rebounders in Towns and Drummond, so the matchups down low will certainly be must-watch.
“It’s gonna be exciting to see him, because of the type of person he is and what we all went through together last year,” Mike Brown told reporters on October 22. “But at the end of the day, we wanna kick his ass like he probably wants to kick ours.”
Tip-off on Friday is scheduled for 7 pm EST on Amazon Prime. Boston opens this game as -2.5 point favorites on their home floor.
