The Knicks lost to the Boston Celtics on Friday night, 107-103.
Here are the takeaways...
-- In search of their first win of the season, the Knicks went down 4-0 and didn’t hit their first shot until Karl-Anthony Towns hit a deep three to get New York on the board. Towns finished the opening quarter with eight points while going 3-for-3 from the floor.
-- OG Anunoby had five points and Jalen Brunson added four in the first 12 minutes, but the rest of the starters were held in check so the Knicks went to their bench looking for a spark.
-- They got it in the form of Miles McBride who checked into the game with 6:21 left in the quarter and immediately went to work by draining two threes and drilling two free throws and matching Towns’ eight points.
-- McBride’s second three-pointer gave the Knicks a five-point lead with just under three minutes left in the quarter, but from there New York was outscored 7-3 and the Celtics cut their deficit to one point and entered the second quarter down 27-26.
-- Boston opened the second quarter by outscoring the Knicks 13-4 to take an eight-point advantage. Anunoby’s made three put an end to the ambush and eventually New York tied the game at 41-41 thanks to Josh Hart’s first points of the game following a two-minute stretch of misses and turnovers by both teams.
-- Hart tied the game again with a three with 56 seconds left in the half before giving the Knicks their first lead since midway through the first quarter on a driving hook shot.
-- However, Paul George nailed a three-pointer as time expired and sent the Celtics into the locker room with a 50-49 halftime lead.
-- Both teams traded baskets to kick off the second half as Anunoby and Brunson got more involved offensively and each hit a three. Towns also made a triple later in the frame, but New York wouldn’t hit another shot for over two minutes before Brunson’s second three-pointer of the quarter.
-- The Celtics weren’t able to take advantage during the Knicks’ scoring drought, scoring just four points themselves.
-- After abandoning McBride following his hot start, New York went back to him late in the third and he stayed hot by making back-to-back threes to pull his team to within one.
-- Once again, though, Boston ended the quarter on a 13-4 run, spearheaded by Jayson Tatum, to go into the fourth quarter up by 10. Tatum had a monster third quarter, leading all scorers with 16 points.
-- The Knicks, down by as many as 12 points, did their best to climb back. Landry Shamet hit a couple of key threes off the bench to get back within striking distance which got New York going in the right direction.
-- They hung around for as long as they could, going shot for shot with Tatum and George, but in the end Tatum’s 36 points was too much and the Knicks lost for the second straight time to begin their season.
-- McBride had a great game, scoring 20 points on 6-for-9 shooting from the field (6-for-8 from three). Mikal Bridges, on the other hand, was held scoreless (0-for-8 from the field, 0-for-5 from three) and only played 22 minutes – far less than any other starter.
-- Anunoby, Towns and Hart all finished with a double-double and Anunoby led the team with eight assists. Still, the trio of Anunoby, Towns and Brunson combined for 10 turnovers as the Knicks gave it away 16 times compared to Boston’s 10 turnovers – the difference in the game.
-- In his first game against his former team, Mitchell Robinson was a non-factor with four points, four rebounds and a block in 22 minutes. He also picked up five fouls.
Game MVP: Jayson Tatum
Tatum led all scorers with 36 points and took over whenever the Celtics needed him to.
Highlights
KAT from deep! https://t.co/Us06WVZwY3
— SNY Knicks (@sny_knicks) October 23, 2026
Deuce from the corner! 👌 https://t.co/SnM0M3NikT
— SNY Knicks (@sny_knicks) October 23, 2026
KAT throws it down! https://t.co/9MfjRH7Efm
— SNY Knicks (@sny_knicks) October 23, 2026
DEUCE. DEEP. https://t.co/aSQmKTMwQG
— SNY Knicks (@sny_knicks) October 23, 2026
Andre Drummond 💪 https://t.co/LtW2R6A4ge
— SNY Knicks (@sny_knicks) October 23, 2026
What's next
The Knicks return home to take on the Orlando Magic on Sunday night. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.