BOSTON — The New York Knicks were built to combat this and, in a way, mimic it.
Boston’s wings were supposed to be uncomfortable because of what New York spent the last few months adding. They weren’t. Like the Celtics, the Knicks, too, want to shoot a lot of 3s. They didn’t. Much like the Celtics, the array of skill New York has across its starting lineup was designed to punish opponents and create advantages. That didn’t happen. The only thing that was similar between the two teams in the season opener, which ended in a 132-109 victory for Boston, was that they broke a sweat.
This is the difference between continuity and newness, between “been there, done that” and trying to do it for the first time. The gap between Boston and New York is vast, as displayed Tuesday night. And that’s OK, for now.
The Knicks didn’t spend the last year acquiring a starting lineup that, in theory, could compete with any team in the NBA only to win a game on opening night. Being 1-0 and beating the defending champions doesn’t transfer the title over. That’s not how this works.
To be the man, you got to beat the man. But not in October. That comes later. The Knicks have a ways to go before they can be considered in the same tier as the Celtics, who basically ran it back with the same roster like an early 2000s college basketball team. The Knicks have time to get there. They know where the bar is now. They just have to find a way to reach it.
The season is long.
“Yeah, that’s an easy way out,” Knicks guard Jalen Brunson said when asked if the Celtics’ familiarity played a part in the lopsided loss. “We still got our ass kicked. We need to come back out and see what we can do better. They’ve been together a long time and we’re a fairly new team, but that’s no excuse.”
On a night that started with history, as the Celtics raised their 18th banner to tip off the season, it almost ended with history, too. Boston tied an NBA record by knocking down 29 3-pointers and had over two minutes to claim the milestone to itself. That didn’t happen, but a team strong in its identity and principles both offensively and defensively made it so that a team still learning each other’s names didn’t have a chance to play spoiler.
The Knicks defense improved as the game went on, but it was too late by the time the rotations and coverages were more crisp. The Celtics had already seen bucket after bucket after bucket go in because New York allowed Boston to step into practice shots early on. The Knicks guards and wings were dying on screens. The bigs weren’t consistently getting up the level of the ballhandler after it was clear what their initiative was. The communication was poor in transition. The long rebounds and 50-50 balls weren’t won by New York early on. Not winning those leaves a team in a scramble. The Celtics make you pay for those mistakes.
It can’t be this easy. With Karl-Anthony Towns, New York is in drop coverage here. Mikal Bridges can’t get around the screen from Al Horford. Towns never gets up to the level of the screen, or really anywhere near it, when Jayson Tatum comes around. This is a layup for Tatum. This is how rhythm is built.
Getting back on defense is a good first step. However, when the defense has a numbers advantage (pause the video at three seconds and see that there are five Knicks in the picture and only four Celtics), a play should never end in a wide-open 3 for the offense. It happens here. Not everyone matches up. Communication is nonexistent. Jaylen Brown, like Tatum before him, steps into a long-distance layup from 3.
In today’s NBA, the rise of 3-point attempts has led to an increase in long rebounds. When the Celtics did decide to miss, they were often first to the ball off the rim (they had 11 offensive rebounds on the night). The Knicks rarely reacted to the misses. They, at times, looked at one another thinking someone else would do something. Boston shouldn’t have this many wide-open looks from 3.
And by the time New York was far more crisp in its coverage and rotations, it was too late. Every Celtics player had seen enough shots going in that they were unbothered by the slightest bit of contest.
“They put a lot of pressure on you, and you got to be able to close,” Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau said. “Sometimes, the initial shot we were able to get to, then we ran in, then the ball went long, over our heads.
“There was indecision — communication, indecision. There was (lack of) second and third effort. When you play a team like that, you have to scramble and you have to fly around. One effort isn’t going to be enough. There has to be a second, third and fourth effort. You have to have high hands, you have to be into the ball pretty good and you have to be moving on the flight of the ball. If you do that, then they still have the ability to make. Some of the shots they made were tough makes. They have that capability.
“Mathematically, it’s hard to win that game. They made 29 3s, shot 60. We shot a high percentage, but the 3-point game, mathematically, we’re not getting that.”
Statistically, yes, the Knicks did shoot a solid 36.7 percent from 3, but only because 12 of Miles McBride’s 22 points came from beyond the arc, where he hit 4-of-5 from distance. Take him out of the equation and New York shot just 28 percent from 3 (7 for 25). It’s still too early to panic, but the Knicks’ starters struggled to shoot the ball from distance in the preseason and it carried over into Game 1. The starting group was 4-of-17 from 3, and that includes a combined 2-of-11 performance from Bridges and OG Anunoby.
The Knicks getting up only 30 attempts is an issue in itself but also a testament to how the seasoned Celtics make you do what they want.
Boston guarded Towns with point guard Jrue Holiday and put centers on Josh Hart. Essentially, the Celtics were inviting New York to punish the switches, to trade 2s for 3s. It worked. Towns attempted only two 3s on the night, primarily due to how he was covered. The Knicks weren’t really able to take advantage of the mismatches because the kickouts often led to misses and Boston stuck to its principles when it comes to trading 2s for 3s and sticking to shooters.
“You got to give them credit,” Hart said. “(Defending like that) really junks the game up, right? You try to find the mismatch with KAT down low, you try to get me in action with Horford or get me in a position to play off the catch and attack his feet. Sometimes you’re trying to get someone into that action and they switch it and switch it and guys are running back and forth making us look stupid trying to get the guy we want into the ball screen, and the next thing you know we spend eight seconds trying to do that and then we’re in a scramble.
“They junk the game up. That is something they’ve been doing for the last year or so. To their credit, it benefits them and their style of defense. It makes the offensive team stagnant at times.”
The Celtics know who they are, where they want to go and how to get there. The Knicks know where they want to go, but they don’t yet know who they are and what the journey entails. And for all the excitement of last season and the rush from multiple franchise-altering trades, New York still has a process to endure. Basketball is never played on paper.
Tuesday night served as a reminder.
(Photo of Jaylen Brown shooting over Karl-Anthony Towns: Brian Fluharty / Getty Images)
