The NBA is officially back on October 22 with the Boston Celtics opening the regular season against the New York Knicks according to Shams Charania of The Athletic. Last year, the Celtics played the Knicks at Madison Square Garden to kick off their campaign while this season New York will be taking a trip to TD Garden. The game will be broadcast on TNT.
Boston and New York are the first game of an opening night doubleheader. The second game will be Anthony Edwards and the Timberwolves traveling to Los Angeles to face LeBron James and the Lakers.
The Knicks and Celtics squared off four times (five if you count preseason) last year with Boston winning three of the four regular-season matchups. The lone Knicks victory was back in April where New York led by over 30 points and narrowly avoided defeat after a Boston comeback winning 118-109.
After defeating the Dallas Mavericks in five games to earn Banner 18, the Celtics will be receiving their championship rings on opening night. The matchup against the Knicks is a fascinating one as the Knicks had a solid offseason picking up the likes of Mikal Bridges from the Nets while re-signing/extending the likes of Jalen Brunson and OG Anunoby. The talk all offseason has been the Knicks are now the team that are most likely equipped to take down the defending champions.
Knicks duo Josh Hart and Jalen Brunson talked on a podcast about what it’ll take to dethrone Boston and will have the earliest opportunity to get a look at the newly crowned champions.
The Celtics dedicated their offseason resources to re-signing/extending the likes of Luke Kornet, Derrick White, Xavier Tillman, Jayson Tatum, and drafting Baylor Scheierman. Boston will enter the season as one of the favorites to lift the Larry O’Brien trophy at the end of the year. Tatum, White, and Jrue Holiday are all coming off an Olympic gold medal with Team USA to conclude their summer of winning and after a few weeks of relaxation will be back in the lab to prepare to do something that hasn’t been done since the Golden State Warriors accomplished the feat in 2017 and 2018.
Shams also reported that the Finals rematch will occur in 2025 with the Mavs hosting the first game on January 25. The Mavs will make their journey back to Boston on February 6.
