While losing the opener isn’t the end of the world for the Knicks in their hopes of defending their title (they could always go 81-1), they probably don’t want to tempt fate.
The Knicks haven’t lost consecutive games to start a season since the 2020-21 squad lost back-to-back games to begin former head coach Tom Thibodeau’s tenure. The last Knicks team to lose consecutive games to begin a season with consecutive losses that ultimately went on to win a playoff series? The 1998-99 Knicks, who went on to win the East, before losing to the Spurs in five games in the Finals.
The last team to lose consecutive games and win an NBA title? The 1990-91 Bulls, who had MVP Michael Jordan, one of the greatest to ever do it. That team won 61 games during the regular season under former Knicks’ executive Phil Jackson en route to their championship.
Knicks stumbled out of gate, but Celtics provide chance to bounce back
The Knicks’ offense in their season-opener was their biggest issue, sporting a 99.0 offensive rating in the defeat. That ended a 30-game streak ending last season, spanning back to March 22 against the Wizards, of registering a 100 or higher ORTG.
According to ALL NBA Podcast, the Knicks scored their fewest points per direct pick in any game this decade, including the postseason. They’ll need to shore that up before heading to Boston to visit their rivals at TD Garden on Friday.
The Celtics are coming off blowing a 22-point lead in their series opener in Detroit on Tuesday. They started off the season strong with a 130.9 ORTG and +41.6 net rating through the first 27-and-a-half minutes, shooting 52.1% from the field and going 12-of-25 (48%) from beyond the three-point arc.
However, they finished the game with a 93.2 ORTG, -71.9 NETERTG over their final 20+ minutes, shooting 37.5% from the field and missing 12-of-17 three-point attempts to end the game.
Paul George scored 38 points in his first game with the Celtics, setting a record for most points scored by a Boston player in their team debut. He also had a game-high five steals after having just four steals in the Sixers’ four-game series vs. the Knicks in the playoffs. Jayson Tatum posted 11 assists, but he only had 13 points on 23 shots in the defeat.
One of the Knicks’ biggest issues on defense was allowing the Sixers to score fast, allowing 24 fastbreak points. Luckily for the Knicks, that’s not Boston’s style. They only scored 11 fastbreak points in their opener in Detroit and averaged an NBA-low 11.8 fastbreak points per game, which figures to get worse with Jaylen Brown now out of the picture.
Even in the Knicks’ loss, Karl-Anthony Towns and Andre Drummond found ways to dominate the offensive glass, securing 10 offensive rebounds. Boston’s duo of former Knick Mitchell Robinson and Neemias Queta only gathered in two offensive rebounds in their loss against a physical Detroit team. Boston’s 31.8% OREB% was the fifth-highest mark in the NBA last season, according to CleaningTheGlass (Knicks were seventh at 31.3%).
On Friday, you figure that Boston is going to get up tons of three-point attempts. The Knicks allowed the Sixers to take 40 three-point attempts, only making 11 (27.5%). In their loss, the Celtics took 42 threes against the Pistons, making 17 at a 40.5% clip.
The Knicks will have to prevent easy looks from beyond the arc and convert on their fair share of their own three-point attempts if they want to win in Boston. The Knicks averaged just under 40 three-point attempts per meeting with Boston last season, making just under 41% of those attempts.
A night like those averages would do wonders for the Knicks in their attempt from falling to 0-2 to begin the 2026-27 season.
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