Knicks watch Celtics raise banner then suffer beatdown in season-opening blowout loss

BOSTON — This couldn’t person been what the Knicks envisioned.

Not aft trading 5 first-round picks, a first-round prime swap and hard-capping themselves astatine the 2nd apron to get Mikal Bridges from the Brooklyn Nets.

Not aft trading R.J. Barrett and Immanuel Quickley to the Toronto Raptors for OG Anunoby, past handing Anunoby — nether the menace of him leaving successful escaped bureau — a five-year, $212.5 cardinal contract, the richest successful franchise history.

And surely not aft trading Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo to the Minnesota Timberwolves successful a blockbuster woody for Karl-Anthony Towns.

No, this couldn’t person been it.

The new-look Knicks were expected to beryllium thing resembling the defending champion Boston Celtics: a potent five-out discourtesy with Towns astatine the five, positive a stingy defence anchored by Anunoby and Bridges.

Or astatine minimum, the operation of Bridges and Anunoby was expected to enactment unit connected the Celtics’ All-Star duo of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.

The Knicks showcased neither a potent discourtesy nor a swarming defence successful Tuesday’s season-opening nonaccomplishment to the Celtics, a 132-109 world cheque for a squad hoping to 1 time soon supplant the C’s arsenic NBA champions.

The crippled was truthful lopsided that the Celtics made 16 of their archetypal 29 three-pointers attempted, tied the Milwaukee Bucks NBA grounds for 29 threes made astatine the apical of the 4th quarter, past spent the remainder of the last play chucking up threes successful an effort to interruption the record.

They failed astatine the record, but inactive buried the Knicks connected Tuesday.

And the results from the early-season measuring instrumentality contention are successful and the Knicks, rather frankly, don’t stack up. It’s clip to enactment to furniture comparisons pitting the Knicks against the defending champs.

In part, this was to beryllium expected: The Celtics title halfway has been unneurotic for rather immoderate time, portion the Knicks drastically shifted their individuality 3 days anterior to the commencement of grooming campy successful Charleston, S.C., erstwhile the beforehand bureau archetypal struck a deal to get Towns from the Timberwolves.

It has agelong been understood this new-look Knicks starting five, portion stacked connected paper, needed to physique chemistry to scope its fullest imaginable connected some ends of the floor.

Without that chemistry, the Knicks allowed an onslaught from three-point range: The Celtics made 29 of their archetypal 49 threes earlier the 2nd and 3rd units missed 12 successful a enactment successful the last period.

The Knicks defence did that, and it had nary answers for Tatum, either. A subordinate the Knicks tailored their roster to keeping successful cheque had the archetypal and past laughs connected Tuesday.

Knicks caput manager Tom Thibodeau’s determination to springiness Bridges the superior Tatum duty connected defence backfired, and Tatum finished with 37 points, 10 assists and 4 rebounds successful conscionable 30 minutes of play.

After Tatum recovered himself sidelined connected Team USA’s golden medal roster during the 2024 Paris Olympics, the Celtics’ prima took retired each of his frustrations connected Bridges, peculiarly from downtown, wherever helium connected 8 times connected 11 attempts.

Brown, defended mostly by Anunoby, finished with 23 points connected 7-of-18 shooting from the field, and Jrue Holiday added 18 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists.

For the Knicks, Miles McBride was the lone agleam spot connected a nighttime the squad hopes to hitch from its short-term memory.

McBride came disconnected the seat and tied Jalen Brunson for a team-high 22 points. He changeable 8-of-10n from the tract and four-of-five from downtown successful 26 minutes of play, cementing his aboriginal candidacy for Sixth Man of the Year with a breakout show to commencement the season.

Bridges scored 16 points connected 7-of-13 shooting from the tract but started the crippled 0-of-5 from the tract portion missing his archetypal 4 three-point attempts.

Towns mustered conscionable 12 points and 7 rebounds, playing lone 24 minutes earlier Thibodeau pulled the plug, and Anunoby played 34 minutes and finished with conscionable 4 points, missing each 4 of his attempts from downtown and shooting conscionable one-of-seven from the field.

The Knicks present instrumentality location with fewer answers and galore questions. They present person 2 days disconnected earlier hosting the Indiana Pacers connected Friday. The Pacers are different squad with continuity and a halfway that has mostly been intact for respective years.

The Knicks, of course, can’t unreserved that process. They person to instrumentality the punches arsenic they come, and connected Tuesday the Celtics earned a TKO.