The New York Knicks and the Boston Celtics both failed their first tests of the season. Will the defending champions Knicks steal a win in Beantown? Or, will the Celtics score a win in their home opener?

Catch this game live on Saturday, October 24, 2026 at 7:00 AM, Manila time

Away: New York Knicks (0-1/0-0 Away)

Projected Starting Five:

  • Mikal Bridges
  • Jalen Brunson
  • Josh Hart
  • OG Anunoby
  • Karl-Anthony Towns

The Knicks raised their championship banner on Wednesday, but then got the boom lowered on them by LeBron James and the Philadelphia 76ers at Madison Square Garden. Jalen Brown led the Knicks with 21 points, but he was just 6/19 from the field. OG Anunoby also had a salty shooting evening in that contest, hitting 3/12 for 10 points. 

Karl-Anthony Towns was better with 19 points on 6/9 shooting with 12 boards, but it was an overall ugly performance by the defending champions. Hopefully for the Knicks, that was more rust than anything ominous about their season. Meanwhile, Andre Drummond had a solid debut with his new team, coming off the bench and providing 12 points and 14 rebounds – all in 24 minutes of work. As a team, New York shot only 37% from the field in the Sixers game. That’s not going to be the case all the time for the Knicks, who shot 47.8% from the floor last season.

Home: Boston Celtics (0-1/0-0 Home)

Projected Starting Five:

  • Derrick White
  • Jordan Walsh
  • Paul George
  • Jayson Tatum
  • Mitchell Robinson

Forget about Playoff P. How about Opening Night P. Paul George threw it back with a vintage performance in the Celtics’ season opener on Wednesday, as he set a new Boston franchise scoring record for a player making his Celtics debut, dropping 38 points on 12/21 shooting with seven 3-pointers, five rebounds, five steals and three assists. 

However, those numbers were wasted in a 121-113 road loss to the Detroit Pistons. Jayson Tatum was simply not himself in that game, as he needed 23 shots from the field to get to 13 points. He had 11 assists, but that’s not something that makes the loss feel any better for Boston and its fans. But playing at home for the first time this season could give Tatum the spark he needs, and that could come while George looks to sustain his great form to start the season.

Picks

Spread: New York Knicks (+2.0)

Over/Under: Under (224.0)