New York Knicks vs. Boston Celtics Live NBA Updates, Scores and Highlights

He didn't even need a cable package to catch the show, either!

They're going to remember this one in Boston for a while.

Wild Jaylen Brown takes are going to start flying from every direction if Paul George continues to defend at this level all season. At 36 years old, it feels unlikely. He is certainly going to miss time at some point. But he's been a team-defense dynamo to open the year.

Jaylen Brown would NEVER.

When one of your most important players is 2-of-16 from the floor to start the season, including 0-for-7 from three, there's nothing else you can really do.

After the performance Boston's big-man trio turned in against Detroit, this was a breath of fresh air for the entire team.

The screen-setting from Mitchell Robinson and Neemias Queta was on point. Luka Garza also hit a couple of big buckets despite playing under four minutes. The three bigs together combined for eight offensive boards as well.

Mike Brown not holding back here. This comment may not have gone over well a year ago, when he was still new to the fold.

Now? He's a championship deep with this core. A little blunt assessment after an 0-2 start feels justified.

Boston's defense was suffocating for around 80 to 90 percent of the game. The Knicks never figured it out.

On the two occasions in which they got the Celtics into the bonus early, they weren't able to consistently puncture the paint and take advantage. Even Jalen Brunson seemed unable to handle their ball pressure.

New York ended up committing a turnover on over 20 percent of their offensive possessions and couldn't get anything going in transition. And of the 10 times they got out on the break, six of those plays ended in a turnover.

Can't quibble about this sound bite.

Tatum nearly racked up triple-double while carving up the Knicks' defense from a variety of spots on the floor and in plenty of different ways. The seven assists against two turnovers is also a giant step for him.

If this is a harbinger of performances to come, Tatum may end up with the third top-five MVP finish of his career.

Something similar on most nights to 36 points, nine rebounds, seven assists, three steals, 11-of-16 shooting on twos and bonkers bucket-getting down the stretch?

Ah, well, at least Mazzulla isn't in danger of setting the bar too high.

At least two of these three shots look even more impressive on the rewatch.

Not a single one of Tatum's three ultra-clutch field goals came easy, either. They were all difficult jumpers.

Everyone in Beantown has to be feeling relieved. The Celtics' offense petered out down the stretch in their opening-day loss. It looked like the same was about to happen again here.

It didn't. Because Jayson Tatum happened instead.

Just an insane level of shot-making from Tatum to put this one away. The Celtics are officially in the win column.

FINAL SCORE: Celtics 107, Knicks 103

This is the second of three monster shots Tatum has hit down the stretch. He single-handedly put this one out of the Knicks' reach.

Score: Celtics 107, Knicks 103 | 10.1 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter

Super clutch jumper from Jayson Tatum to put the Celtics up three.

Stan Van Gundy made an excellent point on the Prime broadcast, too. The Knicks can't send as many bodies at Tatum if he's operating from the mid-post. They can throw more at him when he's working from the top of the key or the wings.

Score: Celtics 104, Knicks 98 | 45.0 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter

Thank you very much to the Celtics' social admin for getting this one up.

This is where the Celtics feel like they'll miss Jaylen Brown the most: in crunch time.

Score: Celtics 99, Knicks 96 | 2:05 remaining in the fourth quarter

This is similar to what happened in the first quarter, but the Knicks weren't able to take advantage. They need more guys breaking the paint on cuts and drives.

Boston has put Mitchell Robinson back in the game even though he's got five fouls. Another thing to watch.

Score: Celtics 94, Knicks 84 | 6:53 remaining in the fourth quarter

Dwyane Wade is right on the call. Mitch should have let KAT know about it.

Neemias Queta has now tied his single-season high for made three-pointers with one.

Boston is taking a 10-point lead into the fourth quarter. Jayson Tatum just put on a masterclass in the third with 16 points and three assists. The Celtics defense is everywhere, on top of everyone, all at once.

New York's offense is entering nightmare territory. It turned the ball over on 29.2 percent of its third-quarter possessions and has no consistent answers for Boston's ball pressure.

Score: Celtics 83, Knicks 73 | End of the third quarter

It's only fair that Deuce McBride's three went in after that circus save.

Paul George hasn't shot the ball particularly well tonight. But he's disrupting a bunch of plays at the defensive end, moving without the ball and, now, has this jam under his belt.

The Celtics have forced turnovers on a whopping 20-plus percent of the Knicks' offensive possessions. Not surprisingly, they have also outscored New York by five points on the break—a not-so-minor detail when they're winning the paint battle by 12 points, too.

Bridges is playing most well on defense but is now 0-of-6 from the floor in this game. The Knicks can't afford to have him remain scoreless with the Celtics all over Jalen Brunson.

New York is currently challenging a block foul that was called against Landry Shamet.

Score: Celtics 68, Knicks 60 | 4:16 remaining in the third quarter

First and foremost, this is absurd fluidity while engaging so many different defenders.

Secondly, Tatum attacking the basket in both the half-court and transition has been the third-quarter difference for Boston.

Three of Tatum's five third-quarter shot attempts have now come in the paint, including this little beauty off a baseline catch-and-drive.

Score: Celtics 66, Knicks 60 | 5:09 remaining in the third quarter

Tatum is walking the walk in addition to talking the talk. He's attacking the basket and getting the Knicks' defense on the move.

New York now has 12 turnovers on the evening and is losing the points battle in the paint, on the break and off second-chance opportunities.

Jayson Tatum already has two assists in the third quarter, and the Celtics have come out of the locker room on a 10-5 run.

Jordan Walsh scored his first two buckets of the season during this stretch. Derrick White hit a wing three off a strong Mitchell Robinson gravity roll. And Tatum hit a trademark middie. Boston is putting New York's defense in rotation pretty consistently, and the reigning champs aren't executing quickly enough at the moment.

Score: Celtics 60, Knicks 54 | 8:11 remaining in the third quarter

Mikal Bridges is the biggest culprit thus far. After shooting 2-of-8 in the season-opener, he is 0-of-4 and has yet to score against the Celtics.

OG Anunoby isn't faring too much better. On the heels of his 3-of-12 performance Tuesday night, he's 2-of-5 from the floor.

New York is built to navigate down games from any one of its wings, but with Brunson yet again struggling (2-of-6), the offense needs one of OG or Bridges to start making shots.

Paul George hit a corner three at the buzzer to put the Celtics up one heading into the locker room. Karl-Anthony Towns leads all scorers with 12 points. Jayson Tatum has 11 for Boston.

Both squads continue to struggle from downtown. Boston's ball pressure also seems to be grating on New York.

Score: Celtics 50, Knicks 49 | HALFTIME

Mike Brown is either giving Andre Drummond a rest after overworking him on Tuesday night, or he's just pushing another button after the Celtics outscored the Knicks by seven points in AD's first-quarter stint.

Methinks it's the latter. The Celtics' combination of ball pressure, two mobile bigs and a floor-spacer like Luka Garza isn't a good matchup for Drummond.

Both Paul Pierce and Ray Allen were members of the 2008 Celtics championship team, which also holds the title for the championship team that is least likely to let you forget that they were a championship team.

Derrick White clearly thought he was fouled and just flipped the ball up toward the basket. He didn't get the call, but it worked out well for him in the end, wouldn't you say?

The Celtics have yet to commit a foul in the second after giving 'em out like Halloween candy in the first. They looked like they might open up a double-digit lead, but a missed layup led to a Landry Shamet transition three that prompted a Joe Mazzulla timeout.

Now, the Knicks are within two.

Score: Celtics 41, Knicks 39 | 5:50 remaining in the second quarter

Luka Garza is leaving his mark with Mitchell Robinson and Neemias Queta on the bench. He just drilled a three to put the Celtics up four and already has an offensive rebound and drawn foul through barely three minutes of action.

Score: Celtics 31, Knicks 27 | 10:33 remaining in the second quarter

Both teams are shooting 3-of-11 from three apiece, but the Celtics' offense feels more disjointed overall. They have five offensive rebounds but aren't converting them at a high clip. They've also only churned out one transition play, a pace that will favor the Knicks.

Foul trouble isn't helping Boston. Mitchell Robinson, Neemias Queta and Jayson Tatum all enter the second quarter with two personals.

Deuce McBride and Karl-Anthony Towns are leading the way for New York. They combined for 16 points and all of the Knicks' made threes.

Score: Knicks 27, Celtics 26 | End of the first quarter

It turns out inheriting a ready-made championship contender is a pretty good first-time head-coaching gig. Who knew?!

Granted, Mazzulla deserves his flowers. Especially for last season. Winning 56 games largely without Jayson Tatum and after the front office moved off a handful of veterans is a big deal.

KAT has eight points early, including this nifty finish:

Even with Queta and Robinson on the roster, Towns' combination of size and mobility at the offensive end continues to stand out. The Celtics better hope their bigs' foul trouble is only temporary. They're probably not built to guard KAT without one of them in the lineup.

Score: Knicks 24, Celtics 20 | 2:46 remaining in the first quarter

Both Mitchell Robinson and Neemias Queta now have two personals. Joe Mazzulla is leaving Queta in for now rather than downsizing. Look for the Knicks to attack that.

Just two multimillionaires having some grade-school fun.

That's a lot of floor-spacing. It also New York's only made three so far. The team is 1-of-5 from beyond the arc.

The Celtics had to pull Mitchell Robinson already, before hitting the nine-minute mark, after he picked up two early fouls. Boston has committed five fouls as a squad, which puts the Knicks squarely in the penalty for the rest of the quarter.

Jalen Brunson is salivating at the thought.

Score: Knicks 13, Celtics 12 | 6:21 remaining in the first quarter

Who doesn't love a good one-legged fadeaway off a body bump to create separation?

Score: Celtics 12, Knicks 11 | 6:56 remaining in the first quarter

This looks weird in so many ways. In fairness, though, it was probably a common occurrence during practice over the past two years.

Oh, and we're officially off!

Score: Celtics 4, Knicks 0 | 10:23 remaining in the first quarter

To quote the great philosopher Jaylen Brown: 🧢.

(It's actually cool to see Tatum healthy for a home-opener again.)

Are you as (not-at-all-)shocked as I am?

"I don't have cable" is such a pre-2019 excuse.

Hey, @NBA. Can we maybe hook Mitchell Robinson up with a League Pass subscription that comes with a Zoom tutorial on how to download the NBA app onto his phone?

Way to play it coy, Mike.

No matter what the Knicks plan to employ throughout the game, I think we can all agree it'd be hysterical if they fouled Mitchell Robinson immediately after the opening tip. You know, just for the lulz.

Some have wondered whether Joe Mazzulla might sub out Jordan Walsh for someone else in the starting five, but he's sticking with the group he favored for much of the preseason.

Though the offense here could get a little dicey with Robinson's limited range and Jordan Walsh's general lack of aggression, this fivesome notched a net rating of 40.6 during Boston's opening-day loss to the Detroit Pistons.

For those who might not have heard, Joe Vardon of The Athletic reported that the Knicks didn't have championship rings ready for assistant coaches during the team's banner-raising ceremony on Tuesday. The report also outlined how odd it was that commissioner Adam Silver didn't speak during the celebration.

Beyond that, New York apparently ran a check on employees by sending a simulated phishing email about selecting a championship ring style. Those who clicked on it were then "forced to attend a mandatory cybersecurity class," per Vardon.

The Knicks have since admitted the faux-phishing attack was "an unfortunate mistake." They also said that they "will provide more than 275 rings to 'players, coaches, employees and other members of the Knicks family.'"

It comes as no surprise that Mike Brown won't comment on the matter. Both he and team president Leon Rose work for the human weenie that is James Dolan. Ring or no ring, there would likely be hell to pay if Brown divulged any juicy deets.  

Mitchell Robinson fits with the Celtics' focus on crashing the offensive glass, so it's no surprise that Joe Mazzulla digs having him on the roster.

The big question tonight: Will New York at any point employ Hack-a-Mitch versus its former center?