To kick off the 18/19 season, the New York Knicks play 3 games in the first week. First Atlanta comes to MSG to start New York’s season, before the Knicks go across town to face Brooklyn at the Barclays Centre. To finish off the week, Kyrie and his Celtics come to New York on Saturday.
1st Game: Atlanta Hawks @ New York Knicks. Game Time: 19:30.
To start the season, the hawks come to MSG to play what should be an interesting game, between 2 teams expected to get top 5 picks in the draft next year and both we promising young talents who everyone will be eager to see.
The Knicks played the Hawks 3 times last year, winning 2. Porzingis played quite well against them last year dropping 28, 30 and 22 points, so expect to see a good performance from him… oh wait, lets just all go back to depression again and hope he comes back quickly. Both teams will probably end up ‘tanking’ after the all star break (or towards march).
As many expected the starting lineup will be Burke, THJ, Frank, Thomas and Kanter. However there is one very unexpected decision of that Frank – or PG of the future – will be starting at the 3. So this should be a good test for him as to whether he can match up and contain Taurean Prince. Expect to see this same lineup this whole week (with maybe THJ and Frank swapping if things go wrong). Prediction: 116-104 Knicks.
2nd Game: New York Knicks @ Brooklyn Nets. Game Time: 19:30.
The first road game of the season is a trip just across the bridge to Brooklyn to face the Nets. This again should be an interesting game with 2 sides who probably aren’t going to make the playoffs. The Knicks split 2 preseason games with the Nets 1-1. The first game had a great (almost breakout) performance by Allonzo Trier who dropped 25 points in just 26 mins. Kanter also impressed with a 20-20 game. The Nets came out on top in the second game 113-107.
Overall, it should be a tightly fought contest with the Nets looking for revenge after the Knicks beat them in all 4 games last year. Going with the Knicks to make it 2-0 in this one. Prediction: 116-102 Knicks.
3rd Game: Boston Celtics @ New York Knicks. Game Time: 19:30.
Like last year, the Knicks will play Boston for their third game of the season. Last time, the Celtics were victorious in a 110-89 blowout win. The Celtics kicked off the season with a 18 point win over the Sixers. They haven’t made many major changes in the off season, however still have probably the best lineup in the East with Kyrie and Hayward returning. They are most peoples pick to reach the Finals from the East, with LeBron leaving the Cavs.
Should be a hard game for the Knicks, and I don’t see them faring well. Prediction: 123-105 Celtics.
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