Knicks at Celtics: The Rivalry Has a New Score to Settle

The Knicks and Celtics have played more than 500 regular-season games and 15 playoff series. So, yeah, this is a rivalry by any reasonable definition. But there's a new twist this time around. The part that matters now is pretty simple: New York knocked Boston out of the 2025 playoffs, Jayson Tatum tore his Achilles in that series, and the Knicks went on to win the championship the next year.

Now the champs are heading back to TD Garden, and neither team is exactly in the mood to admire the other’s story.

Friday’s game tips off at 7 p.m. ET on Prime Video. Both teams are 0-1, which isn’t a crisis in October. Still, looking for that first win can be a little extra motivation for both sides. New York raised their first championship banner in 53 years Tuesday, then lost 106-100 to Philadelphia. Boston built a 22-point lead in Detroit that same day and somehow let it turn into a 121-113 loss.

The losses looked different, but they both had a lot to do with how the new pieces fit together.

For the Knicks, the issue was less about Jalen Brunson’s heroics and more about how Philadelphia made the rest of the offense work. Brunson scored 45 points to close out the Spurs in June and has earned every bit of his reputation as a late-game problem solver. But Philadelphia made him work for just about everything on opening night. Brunson finished with 21 points on 6-for-19 shooting, and New York only scored on two of their last eight possessions. One rough night doesn’t erase a championship run. But it does show you that the Knicks still have to find a better way to make their new pieces fit around Brunson when defenses take away the first option.

Boston has a different version of the same problem to sort out. Paul George looked terrific in his Celtics debut, scoring 38 points and knocking down seven threes. Tatum had 11 assists, but he shot 6-for-23 and finished with 13 points. With Jaylen Brown now in Philadelphia, Boston needs Tatum and George to figure out how their scoring is supposed to fit together. George can’t be expected to hit seven threes every night, and Tatum's way too good to spend the next game watching the offense happen around him.

And even if Brunson and Tatum won’t be checking each other every trip down the floor, that's the matchup everyone will be watching. Brunson has the ability to bend Boston’s defense enough to spring Karl-Anthony Towns on the pick-and-pop. Tatum can get downhill against this Knicks team, even with OG Anunoby and Mikal Bridges on the wings.

The styles make this one fun, too. Last season, Boston took only 41% of their shots in the paint, the lowest share in the league. George gives the Celtics another dangerous shooter. Mitchell Robinson coming over from New York will add a little extra edge to the matchup too. The Knicks signed Andre Drummond after losing Robinson, and Drummond grabbed 14 rebounds in his debut.

The late-game stuff might not be as flashy as a Brunson step-back or a George three, but it could decide everything. Detroit outrebounded Boston 59-45 and wiped out their lead with a 23-0 fourth-quarter run. New York's a team that can take advantage of that.

I think the Knicks finally get in the win column in this one. They’ve won five of the last six meetings, and I trust Brunson and Towns to come up with a better late-game answer after Tuesday’s mess. If New York does, it’ll show the champions can still close — even after all the celebrating.

All stats courtesy of NBA.com.