The New York Knicks are entering the 2024-25 season as one of the most hyped teams in the NBA. After a playoff run that left them one win away from reaching the Eastern Conference finals, the Knicks decided it was time to go all-in, trading away a bunch of picks to land Mikal Bridges and then making a sensational trade for Karl-Anthony Towns at the expense of Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo.
However, the Knicks’ opening night performance against the Boston Celtics gave fans no reason to be confident in their chances of unseating the defending champion. They looked very disjointed, as new teams tend to be, and that left them defenseless against a Celtics team that was playing with purpose. Buoyed by a historic night of three-point shooting, the Celtics demolished the Knicks, 132-109, to send New York reeling.
For the Knicks to overcome their depth issues, their key players have to step up and be at their best. Suffice it to say, they didn’t. But like a true leader, Jalen Brunson took the blame despite finishing the night as his team’s leading scorer with 22 points.
“Personally, I have to get better. I just have to get better. We can sit down and analyze everything, anything. They made a lot of threes. They probably made more than we took. We have to get better on both sides of the ball. I have to get better on both sides of the ball,” Brunson told reporters in the locker room after the Knicks’ opening-night loss, according to SNY on X.