The New York Knicks came into Boston looking to shake off that championship hangover; it looks like it’ll take a few more days to see it.
New York was trading punches with the Boston Celtics all night, but ultimately the gang in green came out on top, 107-103. The Knicks now fall to 0-2 for the first time since the 2020-21 season.
Other than two-thirds of the Villanova crew, the Knicks shot relatively well compared to the game against Philadelphia. The turnovers are what continue to run the Knicks out of games, and they racked up 16 of them tonight. Last season, New York was 9-14 when committing 16 or more turnovers in a game.
Deuce McBride’s eight points and Karl-Anthony Towns‘ 12 on perfect efficiency led the charge in the first half. But Paul George’s buzzer-beating 3-pointer to end the half up one point was the perfect momentum swinger that the Celtics needed.
Boston would go on to outscore the Knicks 33-23 in the third quarter, with Jayson Tatum dropping 16 points on five-for-eight from the field with three assists. McBride and the Knicks would fight back in the third, but Tatum continued his dominance into the fourth.
The Knicks went on a nine-to-zero run, bringing the Celtic lead to just three with 4:09 remaining. From that point, Tatum would score nine straight points to cap off his 36-point, nine-rebound, seven-assist, three-steal night.
After a rough season opener, Jalen Brunson finished the night with 19 points on another not-so-great shooting night. His two blocks tonight were his most since April 2025.
OG Anunoby had a much-needed bounce-back night, ending the game with 20 points, 10 rebounds, and eight assists. Anunoby had his second-most offensive rebounds in a game with five and free-throw attempts with 10.
The elephant in the room and main talking point of this game is Mikal Bridges’ doughnut, shooting zero-for-eight from the field and zero-for-five from three. His lack of driving aggressiveness continues to leave him obsolete offensively on off-nights, tacking on another game with zero attempts at the line.
Surprisingly, after his double-double opening night, Andre Drummond saw just seven minutes. James Wiseman got two minutes of run in the second quarter, with Mike Brown extending the rotation to 11. Five Knicks played more than 30 minutes, and three played less than 10.
The Knicks will look to grab their first win of the season back at home against the also winless Orlando Magic on Sunday. Tipoff is set for 7:00 p.m. ET on MSG.
