BOSTON — Karl-Anthony Towns didn't make much of an impact in his debut with the Knicks.
The four-time All-Star center had a quiet 12 points and seven rebounds in the Knicks' season-opening loss to the Celtics on Tuesday night.
Towns, who was acquired in a blockbuster trade to acquire midfield personnel in the absence of free agent Isaiah Hartenstein and injury to Mitchell Robinson, was minus-18 in 24 minutes with zero blocked shots. left behind.
“It's not just one guy,” Tom Thibodeau said afterward when asked about Towns' first game against his team. “Obviously we have to get better. So we're going to look at the film and consider the adjustments we have to make.”
Still, the Celtics frequently targeted Towns on screens, with Jayson Tatum hitting eight, Derrick White six, Jaylen Brown five, and veteran center Al Horford hitting three in this game. He made 29 3-point shots, tying an NBA record.
“You have to give credit where credit is due. They were hitting a lot of threes, they were hitting a lot of shots,” said Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo, who were traded to Minnesota just before the start of training camp. said Towns, who was acquired in a sending contract. “We have to be a lot better defensively because they make 61 threes a game and they definitely shoot the ball, but we have to work hard defensively to give ourselves a chance to win games. I think it wasn't enough.
“We have to execute that objective better. Our defensive identity is what gives us a chance to do something great. Offensively, tonight we I think we showed we can score, but now we just have to play defense.”
With Towns and Mikal Bridges newly added to the Knicks' starting lineup, it was hard to miss the Celtics' cohesiveness and familiarity with each other.
“I think the numbers speak to how good their offense is when you shoot the way they shoot it,” Thibodeau said. “So you have to go into the game with awareness. That creates a lot of effort and focus on every play. We knew that coming in.
“We've got to be strong defensively and we've got to be strong offensively. So that's the biggest thing.”
