The New York Knicks experienced a disaster in the opening game of the new NBA season against the Boston Celtics. They were beaten 109:132, mainly due to a real three-point show by the Celtics.
The picture was already clear early on: the Knicks were already trailing by up to 21 points in the first quarter. They were unable to recover as the game progressed, and at times the deficit grew to 35 points. While Boston scored from almost every position, the Knicks remained weak in offense.
Only 11 of their 30 attempts from the three-point line found their target and both Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns struggled to find their rhythm. Towns, who made his Knicks debut, could not fulfill the high expectations with only 12 points. Mikal Bridges also failed to meet his potential with a weak 16 points.
Miles McBride (4/5 3PM) was the only bright spot for the Knicks. But overall, the Knicks lacked an answer to the Celtics’ dominant play, who also hit 12 more threes in the second half and almost broke the Milwaukee Bucks’ record.
Boston hit a total of 29 triples in the end, thus setting the NBA record, which caused admiration – even among Knicks player Josh Hart, who jokingly said: “The NBA should test the guys for doping. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
New York coach Thibodeau: “I’m not disappointed with our team”
Despite a rather sober reaction from coach Tom Thibodeau, who stated: “I’m disappointed that we didn’t play better, but I’m not disappointed in our team,” the game left a lot to be desired from the Knicks’ point of view. His words couldn’t hide the fact that the Knicks were inferior in almost all areas and could hardly offer any resistance against the almost overpowering Celtics.
When extraordinary performances result in doping controls
Hart’s ironic comment about the doping control may have been meant as a joke, but in the NBA, players have been tested in the past when they performed exceptionally: Tyrese Maxey had to take a doping sample last summer after he attracted attention due to his muscular transformation. Players like Alex Caruso and Danny Green were also tested for similar performances – but without consequences.
