New York Knicks Down Depleted Boston Celtics in Preseason Opener
The New York Knicks prevailed in a battle of backups on Monday night at Madison Square Garden, topping the Boston Celtics by a 114-107 final to open the 2023 preseason.
Facing a Celtics team that sat most of its major contributors (including Jaylen Brown, Al Horford, Jrue Holiday, Kristaps Porzingis, and Jayson Tatum), the Knicks opened the game with last year's starting five. Most resembled their 2023 selves: Jalen Brunson scored 10 points (4-of-5 shooting) in just six minutes while Julius Randle had 11 and four rebounds in 13.
Mitchell Robinson did work at both ends of the floor (10 points, 7 rebounds, 3 blocks, and 2 steals) while RJ Barrett led the starters with a dozen points despite shooting 1-of-6 from the field (he did go 9-of-9 from the foul line after shooting 74 percent from the charity stripe last season).
Immanuel Quickley led the Knicks (1-0) with 21 points, scoring 14 in the third quarter as he helped build a permanent lead, one that reached as high as 13 in the second half.
Immanuel Quickley, seen in Boston last season, led the Knicks with 21 points in their preseason opener on Monday night
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Fellow reserve Evan Fournier also reached double-figures, scoring most of his 11 points with a trio of triples on seven attempts. Donte DiVincenzo had eight points off the bench in his unofficial Knicks debut. His former and current teammates Josh Hart and Ryan Arcidiacono each sat out of the preseason opener, as former, like Brunson, kept busy through the American effort at the FIBA Basketball World Cup last month.
Boston (1-1) rested most of its stars after earning an exhibition victory at home against Philadelphia on Sunday night. Payton Pritchard once again led the Celtics in scoring with 21, just ahead of the 20 for Dalano Banton. Former Knick Svi Mykhailiuk had 15 in relief. Boston's backups did earn a considerable advantage in the rebounding game, which should trouble the New York unit starring Robinson, Isaiah Hartenstein, and Jericho Sims: the Celtics won Monday's board tally with a plus-10 advantage (49-39) built primarily on the offensive glass (16-9). Neemias Queta had four second chances while Wenyen Gabriel and Lamar Stevens pulled in three each.
Though the rosters will look drastically different, the Knicks and Celtics will open their respective regular seasons with a Garden party on Oct. 25. Before that, the teams will do preseason battle in Beantown on Oct. 17.
In the meantime, the Knicks will resume preseason action on Saturday when they return to MSG to take on the Minnesota Timberwolves (7:30 p.m. ET, MSG/NBA TV).
