The New York Knicks and Boston Celtics are two storied franchises in the midst of a transitional period. In their second season since the departures of Doc Rivers, Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett, Boston is continuing its slow but sure rebuild through the accumulation of draft picks and trades while continuing to develop young talent, like second year power forward/center Kelly Olynyk.
The Knicks are in less of a rebuild and more of a retool phase, with a rookie head coach in Derek Fisher, and a slew of new faces surrounding their core of Carmelo Anthony, J.R. Smith, and Amar’e Stoudemire. Gone are the likes of Raymond Felton, Tyson Chandler and Mike Woodson.
In a sloppy preseason contest in Connecticut on the UConn Huskies home court, the Celtics would use second half momentum and a flurry of Knicks turnovers to power their way to a blowout victory over their division rivals.
It may only be preseason but if this game is any indication, the New York Knicks are going to have to be patient before any real chemistry develops on the court as they learn to implement the Triangle Offense under Derek Fisher’s supervision. The game began with the Knicks in possession, and J.R. Smith missing an open three pointer, which would set the tone for how the rest of the game would play out.
The Knicks allowed the Celtics to shoot 48 percent from the field, including 23 points from Jared Sullinger on 9-of-12 shooting, leading all scorers. The Celtics are not sure where Kelly Olynyk fits best on the floor, but at power forward position, he looked comfortable, scoring 12 points while going 3-of-5 from beyond the arc.
Avery Bradley started in place of the conspicuously absent Rajon Rondo, who is out with a broken bone in his left hand and is expected to miss anywhere from one to three weeks of the regular season. Bradley performed well in his absence, as did rookie point guard Marcus Smart, both scoring 11 points apiece.
Marcus Smart showed noticeable improvement tonight over his previous performance against the Philadelphia 76ers when he went 0-for-8 from the field, this time converting on 4-of-8 attempts, including 2-of-4 from three-point territory, along with 6 assists.
New acquisitions Marcus Thornton, who finished last year with the Brooklyn Nets, and Evan Turner, the former Pacer, scored 12 and 9 respectively. The Celtics used backdoor cuts (which the Knicks could not seem to anticipate), and good floor spacing to put distance between themselves and the Knicks in the third quarter after what was only a 2-point lead going into the half. The Celtics shooting 11-of-22 from three did not hurt their cause.
While the Knicks were less than impressive in this losing effort, trailing by as much as 27 at one point, there were bright spots. Tim Hardaway Jr. looked sharp in his 21 minutes on the floor, leading Knicks scorers with 18 points, shooting 50 percent from the field and draining 10-of-11 costless throws.
Carmelo Anthony, who signed a max contract this off-season, shot 3-for-9 from the field for 10 points, to go along with 4 assists. It should be noted that Melo seems more willing to play the role of facilitator in the new offense than he has in years past.
Amar’e Stoudemire logged 14 minutes, accounting for 6 points but looked a bit sluggish at times. While the Knicks’ lack of chemistry and 28 turnovers is somewhat alarming, this is a team largely comprised of new personnel, implementing a new offense, and operating under a new head coach. They have time to improve, and it’s likely that they will function more smoothly as they face more opponents.
Up next, the Celtics take on the reigning Atlantic Division champion Toronto Raptors at the Air Canada Centre on October 10. The Knicks and Celtics will face off again in the Knicks’ second preseason game on Saturday, October 11.