The Boston Celtics are celebrating ring night after winning the 2024 NBA championship, and their title defense starts by hosting the New York Knicks. On the other hand, the New York Knicks made it to the NBA Eastern Conference Semi-Finals and entered the 2024-25 season with high expectations after landing Karl-Anthony Towns and Mikal Bridges via trades.
This NBA Eastern Conference matchup will take place at the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts, on Tuesday,, on Tuesday, October 22. The tip-off starts at 7:30 p.m. Eastern Time. TNT is the television partner,, while the live stream can be seen through an NBA League Pass subscription.
New York Knicks vs Boston Celtics: Injury Reports
The New York Knicks have two big men in their rotation who are expected to be out on opening night and will need to rehabilitate for a significant time. This team is still looking for some key free agent additions to help boost the bigs rotation but unless there is an announcement, the team should look to Jericho Sims to come off the bench.
| Player | Position | Status | Injury |
| Precious Achiuwa | PF | Out | Hamstring |
| Mitchell Robinson | C | Out | Ankle |
The Boston Celtics knew what they were getting with Kristaps Porzingis and they have prepared for this by loading up with bigs on the bench. Al Horford is at the tail end of his career but his familiarity with the Celtics’ system will definitely be useful. Luke Kornet has shown that he can hold up and he should come off the bench when Horford needs some rest.
| Player | Position | Status | Injury |
| Kristaps Porzingis | PF/C | Out | Foot |
New York Knicks vs Boston Celtics: Starters and Depth Charts
The New York Knicks have become stronger by acquiring Karl-Anthony Towns and Mikal Bridges during the off-season. Both players are expected to be inserted in the starting lineup alongside with Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart and OG Anunoby.
The injuries of Mitchell Robinson and Precious Achiwa will force the team to go small with Jericho Sims and Ariel Kukporti rotating with Towns on the front court. Cameron Payne and Miles McBride should get significant minutes off the bench. Meanwhile, rookie Tyler Kolek is not guaranteed to see minutes on opening night as Coach Tom Thibodeau likes to keep his rotations short and not trust much on his newcomers.
| Position | Starters | 2nd | 3rd |
| Point Guard | Jalen Brunson | Cameron Payne | Tyler Kolek |
| Shooting Guard | Mikal Bridges | Miles McBride | Pacome Dadiet |
| Small Forward | Josh Hart | Kecin McCullar Jr. | |
| Power Forward | OG Anunoby | Jericho Sims | |
| Center | Karl-Anthony Towns | Ariel Kukporti |
When it is not broken, why fix it? The Boston Celtics made it a priority to lock in their starters for the foreseeable future and multiple title runs. Kristaps Porzingis has always been injury prone and expect veteran big man Al Horford to step in. The team also stocked up multiple big men in Luke Kornet, Xavier Tillman and Neemas Queta for times like these with Porzingis being in the injury list.
| Boston Celtics | |||
| Position | Starters | 2nd | 3rd |
| Point Guard | Jrue Holiday | Payton Pritchard | JD Davison |
| Shooting Guard | Derrick White | Jaden Springer | |
| Small Forward | Jaylen Brown | Sam Hauser | Jordan Walsh |
| Power Forward | Jayson Tatum | Xavier Tillman | |
| Center | Al Horford | Luke Kornet | Neemas Queta |
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