Game thread: New York Knicks vs Boston Celtics 7:30 10/26/2019 [Game #3]

Kyrie Irving and rookie RJ Barrett were the talk of the town following their tantalizing debuts with their respective new teams.

The two will take center stage at Barclays Center on Friday as Irving and the Brooklyn Nets host Barrett's New York Knicks in the first installment of the Battle of the Boroughs.

Let's start with Irving, who became the seventh player in Nets' franchise history to score 50 points in Wednesday's season-opening 127-126 overtime loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Irving had the ball in his hands on the final possession, but the six-time All-Star lost his footing off the dribble and forced a shot that caromed off the rim as time expired.

"The job wasn't done. So that 50 just goes into just another few numbers that -- it holds value, but really ... when you don't get a win," Irving said after he sank seven 3-pointers and shot 17 of 33 from the field.

Irving's point total was the most by a Nets player making his debut, eclipsing the 30 posted by Hall of Famer Nate "Tiny" Archibald with then-New Jersey in 1976 as well as D'Angelo Russell in 2017.

Irving will face New York for the first time since spurning the club in the offseason. In addition, the New Jersey native brought the injured Kevin Durant and former Knick DeAndre Jordan with him to Brooklyn.

"I told (Irving) from Day One the pressure isn't on you. I need to perform well, our younger guys need to get better. ... Our job here is to give him support," Nets coach Kenny Atkinson said.

Like Irving, Barrett also saw a strong performance in his debut go by the boards on Wednesday as the Knicks dropped a 120-111 decision to the San Antonio Spurs.

Barrett showed flashes of star power en route to scoring 21 points on 9-of-13 shooting in his first game since being selected by New York with the third overall pick of the 2019 NBA Draft out of Duke.

"I told you. When the popcorn's popping, that kid is ready," New York coach David Fizdale said of Barrett, who helped the club rally from a 16-point deficit in the first half and sank a jumper at the buzzer to give his team an 84-83 advantage heading to the fourth quarter.

Marcus Morris pumped in a team-leading 26 points -- including 17 in the first half on 6-for-8 shooting -- and Julius Randle added 25 and 11 rebounds.

Promising numbers to be certain for a Knicks club that posted a league-worst 17-65 mark in 2018-19, tied for the franchise's worst season.

Brooklyn won three of the four meetings between the Atlantic Division rivals in 2018-19, including both contests at the Barclays Center.

"I don't know what it is in other cities but expectations come with it when you're playing in New York. There's more of a spotlight on us, but it's exciting; what a great challenge we've got in front of us," Atkinson said.


(Field Level Media / cbssports.com)

Maybe the home crowd gives the guys a boost but the Celts just beat the champion Raps. Tatum, Kemba, Jalen going to steal the Knicks lunch money tonight. On the other hand, if the boys can beat the Celts tonight, that would be a great sign there may be hope.

We had a shot to win both games, if not for some serious plop plop Fiz Fiz containment to our team?s chances....

Let?s see if we can defend our home court, and play with energy on second night of back to back.

Randle has a truly horrid offensive game and yet we still almost won. Last night, already, RJ looks better than 25 year-old Caris Lavert. Let?s see him own Tatum today.

I?m predicting DSJ gets it going today.... I?m fine with EP at the PG and Trier too, if not. Just no more RJ at PG right now down stretch.

MRob, Randle, Portis, Morris, Taj.... set the tone front court dawgs!!!

mafra said:

We had a shot to win both games, if not for some serious plop plop Fiz Fiz containment to our team’s chances....

Let’s see if we can defend our home court, and play with energy on second night of back to back.

Randle has a truly horrid offensive game and yet we still almost won. Last night, already, RJ looks better than 25 year-old Caris Lavert. Let’s see him own Tatum today.

I’m predicting DSJ gets it going today.... I’m fine with EP at the PG and Trier too, if not. Just no more RJ at PG right now down stretch.

MRob, Randle, Portis, Morris, Taj.... set the tone front court dawgs!!!

Click to expand...

I doubt it. Isn't going to happen overnight with the way the guy looks, lost all confidence in that jump shot, what was he talking about that he worked so hard fixing it with Coach Smart. His FT shooting still looks broken, when that improves and he can hit them at 80% maybe he stands a chance his jumper will come around.

Both him and Nits big disappointments, picking up their options looks to be a mistake since their trade value declines with the way they're playing and we have to pay them next year. Like I said I would have waited until 10/31 to make the decision, bone head move on the part of the bone head front office we have.

I just think, with second night of back2back, DSJ and Knits will get some burn tonight. DSJ took good shots but missed them. But, you?re probably right.

DSJ needs to be high usage. He will have games where he shoots 2 for 13 and then games where he can start to blossom. Much like Ntilikina, Fizdale is going to throttle his minutes to nothing. These guys are 3rd year pros. They need to play to save their careers. His career is doomed with us.

Wsup Rady .... Thanks for The Game-Thread .. the final quarter of the Knicks last two games put a little hope into Knick fans on seeing a future Knick win coming soon.
The end of a Back to Back .. I want to see my winning Knicks back-court tandem of Frank & Dotson controlling the tempo of the Boston game.
No Frank & Dotson .. No Knick win !!!
It's obvious now why Fizdale has been going with ISO-Zo and rookie RJ Barrett as the Knicks back-court tandem. The two guards are exceptional scorers in a one on one and a one touch isolation offense.
How many more games will the Knicks have to perform to get coach Fizdale 20 Knick wins ???

DSJ, Ntilikina, Dotson...all the guys people are talking about hoping to play well tonight will be lucky to play a combined 5 minutes tonight.

Fizdale...

On Friday, Fizdale continued to emphasize the point that nothing is set in stone when it comes to the point guard position.

"It's fluid,' said the Knicks head coach. "Obviously, I'm going to look at Dennis for a little bit here and get him into some kind of rhythm, but again, it's not something that's in stone. Frank's attitude has been fantastic, he's continuing to work, and he knows that he's right there in my pocket ready to go."

Let?s go Knicks! I?m gonna hang with family then watch WS. I?ll watch game later tonight.

I think we finally have something started.... just don?t expect too much too soon.

RJ is for real. Knox and Trier and MRob give us hope. Portis, Morris, Randle and WE are pros.

Let?s
Go!

Knicks starting lineup:

C - MRob
PF - Randle
SF - Morris
SG - RJ
PG - Payton

Wow, great start. Randle, Morris, and Barrett all contributing on offense. We lead 13 to 2.

Just read a blurb that Morris said he didn?t even get a call from Boston in free agency. He was an important piece there these last 2 seasons. Rough.

Our guys are doing a good job getting each other open looks, but we still really lack for consistent shooting.

Randle and RJ working the 2 man game nicely on offense.

Portis and Knox first set of subs for MRob and Morris.

DSJ and Trier in for Payton and RJ late in the 1st quarter.

Took Celtics only a few minutes to adjust. Erased a double digit lead before the end of the 1st quarter.

Taj in for Randle.

Our 2nd unit has been eviscerated.

Waiting for NBA TV to switch to our game on swear they are showing the OT in the Bucks game twice

htr10 said:

DSJ and Trier in for Payton and RJ late in the 1st quarter.

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Fizdale looks like he's given up on Nits but not DSJ. Perry must have told him we traded KP for him you have to play him. Missed that 19 footer that he took by a mile, his shot is as broken as any I've seen.