Knicks at Celtics: Points of Emphasis for Game 1

Tip-Off - Tuesday, October 22nd at 7:30pm

When our beloved New York Knicks take on the Boston Celtics tonight the journey for this much-anticipated 2024-25 campaign can finally begin.

No more hypotheticals.

No more pie in the sky.

It’s time for real game action to analyze! With that in mind, here are 3 points of emphasis I’ll be locked in on during the game.

1. New York’s spacing on offense

Adding Karl-Anthony Towns and Mikal Bridges (uhh… more on that later) were done, in large part, to maximize spacing on the offensive end. Jalen Brunson should have more room to operate than he ever has on an NBA court and Knicks fans have been salivating for the chance to see it in real action.

The JB - KAT pick and roll will be clunky and take time to build chemistry, but KAT’s gravity as a shooter will change Jalen’s life on offense from the jump.

2. The Rotation

Of course, one of the biggest unknowns before the season starts is what the substitution patterns will look like. Since this is Thibs’ first bite at the apple with this group, it will be interesting to see how he deploys this roster. Here’s some quick rotation items I’m curious to see:

- Do we start Josh Hart or Deuce McBride?
- Which rookies get time?
- How much Brunson and Cam Payne do we see?

3. Mikal Bridges’ Jumper

In a perfect world, Mikal will nail an above-the-break three-pointer early in the first quarter and everyone can take a deep breath. Unfortunately, when you play in New York (sorry Brooklyn… you don’t count) the attention is 10x anything else you’re used to. Mikal is getting his first real taste of that now. Much has been made of Bridges’ shooting form in the pre-season. This was amplified when Bridges himself made comments that he has been working to correct his shot for the last 7 years since leaving Villanova. Some encouraging results early will do a lot of good for the confidence of our high-priced wing.