Tatum bombed 34+11, Boshen broke the record in his debut! The Celtics narrowly beat the dark horse, and Randle was in the doldrums
The NBA regular season officially kicked off, with Eastern Conference favourites the Celtics taking on the Knicks on the road. In the summer, the Celtics moved a lot, sending away Smart + Gwei + Lowe and others, in exchange for Porzingis + Holladay, because Horford is older, Porzingis' replacement is necessary, but it is difficult for Boshen to maintain a healthy state. And sending away Smart, to put it bluntly, is to stabilize the core position of the double tanhua, Holladay's joining, the attack and defense are more balanced, can play the green leaf, suitable for the green army system. In addition, Brown's five-year $304 million contract extension with the Celtics this summer, and Tatum's five-year $338 million super top salary renewal next summer are also a certainty. Once their big contract starts, it will be difficult for the Green Army to compete for the championship, so the window may be 2-3 years.
The Knicks have been involved in Harden and Embiid trade rumors this summer, and even some American media have broken the news that the Knicks are willing to take out Barrett + Randle + two or three first-round picks for Embiid. The Knicks are not short of money and have also ranked among the top five in the East in the past two years, but the biggest problem with this team is that the ceiling is not high enough, and the Big Three system of Barrett + Randle + Brunson is obviously shorter than other teams in the East. Knicks starters in this game: Grimes + Brunson + Barrett + Randle + Mitchell Robinson; Celtics starters: White + Holladay + Jaylen Brown + Tatum + Porzingis. The Greens' starting line-up tends to be perfect, but their bench depth is too thin.
The opening Celtics counterattacked, Tatum hit a single shot on his back, Porzingis caught a dunk, Robinson ate pie + Barrett countered the dunk, but Tatum blossomed inside and out, after Boshen dunked inside, the arc top three points were also hit, the Celtics had too many endpoints, and the Knicks took care of the other. Randle hit a three-pointer in the middle, Brown and Holladay blossomed inside and out, and Tatum and Porzingis also rained on three-pointers to give the Celtics a 30-18 lead over the Knicks at the end of the first quarter. After Randle lost weight, the confrontation was a little tight, and there was even a scene where he missed a layup on the counterattack, and Brunson was completely untouched. The Celtics have five players on the court who can be offensive starting points, and Holladay and White are mainly defensive.
Back in the second quarter, Quickley and Barrett blossomed inside and out, the Knicks had a recovery trend, but White's three-point + Brown and Holladay singles in a row, and widened the point difference. In the middle of the period, Tatum and Quickley faced off for three-pointers, Brunson and Barrett chased points, and Tatum used Porzingis' cover to break through and score back-to-back breakthroughs. Late in the quarter, Grimes and Hatten helped the Knicks stop the bleeding, and the Celtics led the Knicks 51-46 at halftime. Tatum scored 19 points in the half, Boshen 15 points in the half, because Boshen is more mobile, from blocking to down, and then to opening up space outside the three-point line, so Tatum is like a fish, but the Celtics bench really didn't score.
Returning from the second half, Tatum faced Mitchell Robinson to complete a 2+1, then pulled back to make another shot, White countered to assist Tatum's gliding dunk, and the Knicks were stopped again. After Brunson's jumper stopped the bleeding, Tatum and Brown doubled back to finish with consecutive counterattacks, but the three-point rain of Brunson and Grimes narrowed the gap again, and the Knicks rushed to rebounds efficiently, responding to a 10-0 climax in just 68 seconds. In the second half, Brunson hit a three-pointer to erase the gap, Horford hit a back-to-back three-pointer to help the Celtics through the tough period, Brown hit the shot, Porzingis pressed the whistle to make up the basket, and the third quarter ended, the Celtics led the Knicks 82-73.
In the fourth quarter final, Barrett layup + Tatum foul free throw + left three-pointer, Quickley and Hart also rained three points, and the Knicks overtook the Celtics with a 13-2 climax! The Celtics have a lineup in the middle of the lineup, and it is difficult for the bench to contribute. Tatum made a layup to stop the bleeding, Brunson was blown and Porzingis hit a 3-pointer. In the decisive moment, Randle and Grimes rained down on three points, and after White made a free throw to stop the bleeding, Brunson also hit a free throw. In the last 3 minutes, Holladay scored a layup, Porzingis hit consecutive free throws + hit three points, and in the final moment, Pritchard made two free throws to open a four-point gap, Brunson hit a three-point iron, and finally the Celtics defeated the Knicks 108-104.
Stats, on the Celtics side, Tatum 34 points, 11 rebounds and 4 assists, Boshen 30 points, 8 rebounds and 4 blocks, White 12 points and 6 rebounds, Holladay 9 points, 4 rebounds and 3 blocks, Brown 11 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists. On the Knicks side, Brunson had 15 points and 6 assists, Randle had 14 points, 11 rebounds and 7 assists on 5-of-22 shooting, Barrett had 24 points, and Quickley had 24 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists. In the first game of the season, the Celtics exposed a huge shortcoming: the starting scoring ability is no problem, and the substitutes are dragging their feet except Horford, which leads to too much pressure on the starters and excessive physical exhaustion. Porzingis scored 30 points on his debut, setting a record for the highest debut in Celtic's history. Mazura could consider having Brown and Holladay with the bench.