Hopefully, Saturday won’t be a repeat of opening night.
That’s when the Celtics, fresh off their championship celebration, buried the Knicks beneath an avalanche of threes in a humiliating 132-109 season-opening blowout in Boston.
But these aren’t the same Knicks — at least, that’s what they’re out to prove in Saturday’s rematch at Madison Square Garden.
“It’s the next test,” head coach Tom Thibodeau said after Friday’s practice in Tarrytown. “It’s about understanding how you prepare for each game — what are the strengths and weaknesses of the team? We have to know them well. Obviously, they’re a dangerous team. They are the defending champion. So we have to be ready to play 48 minutes of really good basketball.”
The Celtics have been the class of the NBA all season, led by perennial All-Stars Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. Their five-out offense surrounds the floor with lethal three-point shooters at all times. Their backcourt — Jrue Holiday and Derrick White — is a nightmare defensively. Their bigs, Kristaps Porzingis and Al Horford, protect the rim and stretch the floor with efficiency.
They’re reigning champions for a reason.
And yet, so much has changed for the Knicks since opening night. They enter Saturday trailing Boston by just one game in the loss column for the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference.
More than just a measuring stick game, it’s an opportunity.
“It’s another stepping stone for us to see where we are,” said Jalen Brunson. “Each game is a test for us to see where we can improve and get better. When a team wins [a title] the way they did, everyone’s chasing them. So there’s a lot of respect for Boston around the league.”
That respect now extends both ways. New York (34-17) is no longer just a scrappy, overachieving team. They’re a legitimate force, just 1.5 games back of the Celtics (36-16), and a top-two seed is within reach.
“Obviously, you always want to get the best [playoff] position possible, but every game, you treat it as if they were Boston Celtics,” said Karl-Anthony Towns. “I’ve said it before: If you treat any game like it’s not the Boston Celtics or the Cavaliers, then you’re doing yourself an injustice. We take every game seriously.”
Opening night was a wake-up call for a Knicks team still in flux. That loss came just weeks after the blockbuster trade that sent Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo to Minnesota for Towns. It was a roster still learning how to play together, going up against a championship team that had spent the summer fine-tuning its title-winning formula.
Saturday presents a new challenge. And this time, the Knicks are far better equipped to meet it.
“We’re a different team, just understanding each other, continuity, understanding where our strengths are,” Towns said. “And we’re just a different mindset as a team as well. We have familiarity with each other. There’s been time with each other now to kind of cultivate a culture.”
“I think the challenge is when you have as many guys as we did to get them to learn the strengths and weaknesses of each other, learning a new system and to focus on that improvement. I’d say offensively it’s been steady throughout. And defensively the same thing,” Thibodeau added. “To understand what goes into winning — defense, your rebounding, keeping your turnovers down, attacking the rim and sharing the ball. I’d say we’ve been pretty good at these things.”
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