A loss is still just one loss… regardless of how bad and embarrassing it was.
The Knicks retooled much of their starting lineup this offseason to position themselves better to contend with the Boston Celtics. And that led to a lot of excitement and hype leading into the beginning of the 2024-25 campaign.
A lot of that frenzy was almost instantly put to rest though as the defending champions showed why they started the season off as clear favorites to win it all again. But it’s not all negatives.
The loss, despite it being an embarrassing 23-point one, still counts for just one loss. And while it’s hard not to think of all of the ways in which the Knicks disappointed, it’s important to not overreact… at least not yet.
Here are six reasons why.
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We all knew, or at least should’ve known, that this was going to take time
Whenever there’s even a singular change in the starting lineup, there is a chance that it results in a butterfly effect that completely changes the schemes, styles, and fit of a team. That’s not always the case. We did all see OG Anunoby hit the ground running and seamlessly fit in as a Knick just earlier this year.
But New York is now dealing with a starting lineup that is trying to incorporate not just one, but two, pretty significant pieces. And in that process, they, as alluded to earlier, have changed their identity, and schemes, and it’s painfully clear that the team is still not fully comfortable. On multiple occasions last night, players were passing up shots, second-guessing themselves, and playing with an overall level of tentativeness that only comes from teams that lack continuity. And truthfully, the level of basketball we got accustomed to watching likely won’t be coming any time soon. That’s probably not what fans wanted to hear. It’ll lead to more frustrating losses and concerns. But the long-term ceiling of this team remains high.
Remember that teams need time to gel. Time to find their brand of basketball and learn where guys want the ball and where they’re going to be. Last night was a tough loss for fans to witness. And the score wasn’t what anyone expected. But we all knew that this team would be far from a finished product on opening night and that perspective should make coming to terms with said loss a bit easier to stomach.
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Deuce McBride is the real deal
Just like how Boston won’t make 29 threes in a game all the time, Deuce McBride won’t score 22 points on efficient shooting all the time. But also, just like how that doesn’t mean that Boston isn’t a great three-point shooting team, it also doesn’t mean that McBride can’t and won’t continue to be great. In fact, it’s quite the opposite.
On a night where almost every other Knick was a disappointment, McBride was the most impressive player dawning blue and orange. He came out of the gates confident and blazing hot, was the sole reason the Knicks didn’t go down 40 in the first half, and showed that his outside shooting improvements last season were far from an anomaly. He was really one of the few things fans could point to as a positive and moral victory from game number one.
Questions about if McBride should start or not will continue to linger but it was obvious last night that McBride, regardless of whatever role he gets going forward, will be a force to be reckoned with.
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Mikal Bridges worked his way back
The first half of Mikal Bridges’ regular season debut as a Knick was atrocious and pretty much went as bad as it possibly could have. On offense, he passed up multiple open shots and when he did shoot, he missed badly and often. Defensively, he was tasked with guarding Jayson Tatum, who went ballistic on not just him, but the entire team.
But Bridges found a way to gain some confidence, play more aggressively, and finish the night on a slightly more positive note in the second half. He got a couple of threes to go and then started attacking the basket more as well. His overall performance was still subpar, and obviously having him play the way he did in the second half for an entire game would have been nice. But, if we are to take away a few things from the loss, Bridges’ ability to shake off what was an ugly last preseason game and an equally bad first half last night should be one of them.
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The Knicks’ offense fared decently well
A lot of the talk will be around Bridges’ first-half struggles, Josh Hart failing to record a made three, Karl-Anthony Towns’ lack of aggressiveness, and Anunoby being completely invisible last night. But New York, even with three starters having subpar to downright awful games, still managed to score 109 points on 55.1% shooting against a team that finished with the second-best defensive rating last season.
Some of that was the result of the game having about 8 full minutes of garbage time. That I cannot gloss over. But given the aforementioned point of how this team has yet to fully gel, the “glass half full” view would be to come away somewhat content about the current state of the offense and what it could look like come January or February.
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The Knicks won’t play Boston every night and even when they do, they won’t shoot like this
A significant amount of the Knicks’ opening night loss can be chalked up to their bad schemes, bad defensive effort, bad three-point shooting, and bad focus. It was overall, a very bad performance for the Knicks. But some of it can be and should be chalked up to Boston being Boston- and the most elite, focused, motivated, and on-fire version of them at that. The Celtics quickly dismissed concerns about a championship hangover by scoring 43 points on the Knicks’ defense and they never looked back.
They were and remain the championship favorites and they showed why. Luckily New York will get to play other teams starting Friday and even when these two matchup again, it’s highly unlikely that they make 29 threes again.
The Knicks have their sure of holes/mistakes and faults that they need to sure up and fix. And their defense was a big reason why Boston hit 29 threes in the first place. But some of those shots were just examples of high-level shot-making. Again, New York didn’t help themselves by allowing Boston to catch fire in the first place but that kind of historically hot and consistent outside shooting is an anomaly.
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The Knicks are still led by Tom Thibodeau and Jalen Brunson
Thibodeau has his share of detractors and he’s far from the perfect coach. His rotations will always be questioned, he’s slow to in-game adjustments, and he is stubborn about a handful of things that sometimes make you scratch your head. But you can’t argue with the fact that for the overwhelming majority of his career, he’s found a way to be competitive. Regardless of the talent level on the roster, he’s almost always been able to instill a high level of intensity and defense and lead teams to have high floors. Pair that with the franchise’s star in Brunson, and the Knicks should still be okay. Again, it may take some time for the team to reach its potential, but with two men who regularly preach hard work and doing things the right way, it shouldn’t be too long before the team gets back on track and, at the very least, plays competitively, and as a team.