The Knicks will need to start on defense as they look to quickly recover from Tuesday's loss in Boston to open the season.
The Celtics put up a banner commemorating the 2024 NBA title and defeated the revamped Knicks, who look to challenge for the Eastern Conference championship this season.
“That's championship-level basketball. For us, that was a punch in the mouth, so we've got to respond to that,” guard Myles McBride said after the game. “Obviously, this is a long year. You can't overreact to one game, but I don't think that's the way to set the tone for the year.”
It's hard to argue with that assessment after a fiasco in the first round with Mikal Bridges and Karl-Anthony Towns, two new starters the Knicks acquired in separate offseason trades.
“We're very confident in our offense. We have to bring a defensive identity that makes us special,” Towns said. “Once we figure that out, we can take the next step and become the team we want to be.”
Bridges had no answer for his defensive chief, All-Star forward Jayson Tatum. Tatum led the way with 37 points and tied the Celtics' NBA record with 8-of-29 3-pointers.
They were shooting as high as 60.4 percent on long-range shooting (29 of 48) at one point, but in an attempt to establish a new mark, they made their last 13 shots from beyond the arc. We're screwed.
“Indecision. Second and third effort,” Tom Thibodeau said when asked what went wrong on defense. “When you play a team like that, you have to scramble and fly around.
“One effort is not enough. You need a second, third, fourth effort.”
The Knicks will focus on improving their defense in Friday night's home opener at the Garden against the Pacers, who were eliminated in the second round of last spring's playoffs.
All-Star guard Jalen Brunson said starting two new starters is “the easy way out” because “we're still in a tough spot.”
“They've been around a long time and we're a fairly new team, but that's no excuse,” added Brunson, who scored 22 points but was minus-23 in 24 minutes and 30 seconds of court time. “Personally I have to get better, it starts with my approach and everything, I have to get better.
“We can say a lot. We can dissect everything. They made a lot of 3s. They probably earned more than we received. But , we've got to be better on both sides of the ball. We've got to be better on both sides of the ball.”
OG Anunoby was a similar story, scoring just four points on 1-of-7 shooting for a minus-21 point rating. And for Bridges and Towns, who both endured ineffective two-way debuts.
Obviously, it will take a revised starting lineup and rotation to come together following the departures of Julius Randle, Donte DiVincenzo, free agent Isaiah Hartenstein, and the absence of injured center Mitchell Robinson. It will take some time.
“We're going to reflect on what we did, what we had to fix, and get back to work,” Thibodeau said. “Every game reveals something to you. Sometimes you do things well, sometimes you don't do as well as you should. But to understand why you lost, why you won, and move forward. Please take the necessary measures.”
