New York Knicks (0-1) at Boston Celtics (0-1)
Friday, October 23, 2026
7:00 PM ET
Regular Season Game #2 Home Game #1
TV: Prime Video
Radio: 98.5 Sports Hub, Sirius XM
TD Garden
The Celtics home opener brings the reigning NBA Champion New York Knicks to the TD Garden. This is the first of 4 games between these division rivals this season. They will play at Boston once again on January 13 and then two times at New York on March 14 and April 4. The Celtics were 1-3 against the Knicks last season, winning
one game at home. They are 309-193 overall all time and 167-69 all time in games played in Boston.
The biggest story of the Knicks roster is that Mitchell Robinson, who was a key member of last year’s championship team, was signed as a free agent by the Celtics. They also lost Jeremy Sochan to Portland and Ariel Hukporti to Philadelphia. They signed Andre Drummond to replace Robinson as a back up center. They also drafted Tyler Nickel with the 49th pick in the draft.
The swap of Jaylen Brown for Paul George makes the Celtics a very different team from last season. They have Jayson Tatum back after missing most of last season with the torn Achilles. They added Mitchell Robinson, and Mike Conley as free agents. And they drafted Chris Cenac, Jr and Dillon Mitchell and signed Devin Carter as a 2-Way player.
The Celtics went 4-0 in the preseason, winning with both starters in 2 games and reserves and Exhibit 10 players in 2 others. They beat Cleveland, Charlotte and Philadelphia twice. The Knicks went 0-4 in the preseason, losing to Philadelphia, Washington, Minnesota, and Toronto. Both teams lost their opening night game and are looking for their first win of the season.
After this game, the Celtics will play home games against Chicago, Brooklyn and Chicago again. They will then play at Orlando and Houston and then home against Milwaukee before a road tripp takes them through Charlotte, Milwaukee, Philadelphia and Toronto. They play Dallas and Orlando at home before a West coast trip that takes them through Denver, Sacramento, Golden State, and Washington.
The Knicks will host Orlando and Detroit before playing at Chicago and Philadelphia. They then play at home against Brooklyn and Chicago before a game at Cleveland and then back home to host Milwaukee and Cleveland. Then they have a 4 game road trip through Indiana, 2 games at Toronto, and Minnesota. They finish the month with a 5 game home stand against Portland, Indiana, Cleveland, Miami and Atlanta.
The Celtics started White, Walsh, George, Tatum and Mitchell against the Pistons. I have listed the same starters for this game, but I could see Joe switching things up for this game and possibly starting Hauser, Scheierman or Queta in this one. For the Knicks, I expect the Knicks to start Brunson, Bridges, Anunoby, Hart, and Towns once again.
Both teams are mostly healthy for their second regular season game. The Celtics have only Devin Carter listed as out with an illness. After missing the final 3 games of the preseason, Carter was diagnosed with mononucleosis and is without a timetable for a return. Mitchell Robinson turned his ankle in Tuesday’s game but is expected to be ok to play in this one. The Knicks have no one listed on their injury report.
Probable Starting Matchups
PG: Derrick White vs Jalen Brunson
SG: Jordan Walsh vs Mikal Bridges
SF: Paul George vs OG Anunoby
PF: Jayson Tatum vs Josh Hart
C Mitchell Robinson vs Karl-Anthony Towns
Celtics Reserves
Chris Cenac, Jr
Mike Conley, Jr
Luka Garza
Hugo Gonzalez
Ron Harper, Jr
Sam Hauser
Payton Pritchard
Neemias Queta
Baylor Scheierman
Two Way Players
Devin Carter
Dillon Mitchell
Amari Williams
Injuries/Out
Devin Carter (illness) out
Head Coach
Joe Mazzulla
Knicks Reserves
Jose Alvarado
Jordan Clarkson
Pacome Dadiet
Mohamed Diawara
Andre Drummond
Tyler Kolek
Miles McBride
Landry Shamet
James Wiseman
Two-Way Players
Jaden Akins
Kevin McCullar, Jr
Tyler Nickel
Injuries/Out
None listed
Head Coach
Mike Brown
Key Matchups
Jayson Tatum vs Josh Hart
Hart finished Tuesday’s game with 14 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 block and 1 steal. He shot 50% from the field and 40% from beyond the arc. The Celtics will need to defend him well. On the other side, Hart is a good defender and will look to make it harder for Tatum to score. Tatum needs to have a good game while not forcing things as he looks to come back from a poor showing against the Pistons.
Derrick White vs Jalen Brunson
Brunson is key for the Knicks. He finished the first game against the 76ere with 21 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 assists while shooting 31.6% from the field and 33.3% from beyond the arc. The Celtics need to defend him especially well because he is capable of having a big game both scoring and distributing. Against the Pistons, Derrick White shot the ball well and hopefully that continues.
Honorable Mention
Mitchell Robinson vs Karl-Anthony Towns
Assuming that Robinson starts once again, he will likely want to have a big game against his former team. Towns will do his best to keep him from doing so. Against the 76ers, Towns finished with 19 points, 12 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 blocks and 1 steal. The Celtics will need to keep him off the boards and out of the paint.
Keys to the Game
Defense – As always, defense is the key to winning this, and every, game. In the preseason, the Celtics were tops in the league with a defensive rating of 98.6. In the second half of Tuesday’s game the Celtics allowed the Pistons to score 78 points. The biggest problem in the Celtics collapse against the Pistons was their failure on the defensive end. The Celtics must make defense their priority and the offense will feed off of that.
Rebound – As with defense, rebounding will always be a key to winning. The Celtics have to crash the boards as a team and go after every rebound. In the preseason, the Celtics were 1st with 55 rebounds per game and 3rd with 16.8 offensive rebounds per game.
The Knicks were 25th with 42.4 rebounds per game. Against the Pistons, the Celtics had just 39 rebounds while the Knicks had 53 rebounds against the 76ers. Robinson and Queta are 2 of the best rebounders in the league but they struggled in the first game. They need to get back to what they do best and win the rebounding battle against the Knicks.
Effort and Focus for 48 Minutes– The Celtics have to play with extra effort overall for all 4 quarters. In the first half against the Pistons, the Celtics played hard and stayed focused, taking care of the ball and taking and making good shots. In the second half, the Pistons were the team that played harder and the Celtics lost focus on both ends of the court. The Knicks play hard and the Celtics must match that effort and they need to stay focused on playing the right way.
Move the Ball Carefully – The Celtics need to move the ball to get the best shots. The Celtics are much better when they move the ball and don’t lapse into iso ball. hopefully this season we will see much less iso ball than in the past. But, they have to be careful with the ball and avoid turnovers. They turned the ball over 14 times against the Pistons. They need to make the extra pass to find the best shot but they also need to stay focused and make careful passes.
X-Factors
Home Opener – The Celtics need to take advantage of home court and the boost their fans can give them. The Knicks will face a hostile crowd and an unfamiliar arena along with travel which will hopefully give the Celtics the edge. If the Knicks had one crack in their armor last season, it was playing on the road. They were just 22-19 on the road last season. The Celtics need to play hard and with focus and take advantage of playing at home.
Mitchell Robinson Revenge Game – After 8 years with the Knicks and helping them win a championship, they allowed him to walk in free agency in order to stay under the tax.
Robinson is going to want to show them that they made a mistake and will want to beat his old team. The Knicks, on the other hand, will want to show him that they are fine without him. Hopefully Mitch will play well and not try to do too much.
Officiating – Officiating is always an x-factor in every game. Every crew officiates differently. Some call it tight, others let them play. The Celtics need to adjust to how the refs are calling the game and not allow bad calls or no calls to take away their focus from playing the game. The Celtics also have to be aware of the new points of emphasis for this season and try to avoid flopping, off‑arm push‑offs, reckless closeouts, delays before free throws, and illegal screens. Paul George was already fined for a flop in the first game.
