Knicks blown out by the Celtics in home opener

The Knicks opened up at home in the worst possible way, getting blown out by the Boston Celtics 118-95, in front of a crowd that turned against Dennis Smith Jr., but cheered Celtics’ Tacko Fall.

Kemba Walker, who signed as a free agent with the Celtics during the summer, torched the Knicks with a game high 32 points including seven three pointers. Jaylen Brown dropped 19 buckets and Jayson Tatum followed with 15 for the rivals.

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The Knicks were led by rookie RJ Barrett, who finished with 26 points and 7 rebounds. Mitchell Robinson scored 17, Marcus Morris nailed 12 buckets while Julius Randle had another double-double game with 10 & 10.

New York took an early lead after a 13-0 run in the start of the game but it didn’t last for too long. At halftime the Knicks were still up by 5 but then Kemba Walker happened and that changed the flow of the game.

Walker was flawless in the third, nailing four out of four jumpshots, including three from behind the arc, that gave Boston the lead and eventually the win. In the final act it was all Celtics, who outscored New York 36-19.

Dennis Smith Jr. played 11 minutes and after losing his job as the starting point guard he lost the home crowd too. Following another scoreless, the Garden started to boo him. Then, they chanted for the other guard, who lost his place in Fizdale’s rotation. “We want Frank”, the crowd chanted. But Frank Ntilikina wasn’t inserted.

“The kid is obviously struggling. We’ll look at the situation and continue to adjust. [The fans] know what they like and what they want. It doesn’t do anything to my mindset. I’m going to coach this team.(…) No issues with Frank. We have three point guards. We’re three games into it. I’ll be looking at different rotations until we get to that place with the right people out there.”

– David Fizdale

But Celtics’ Tacko Fall got some garbage time at the end of the game, made dunks in four minutes and that lit the Garden.

The Knicks are now at the bottom of the Eastern Conference with no wins in three games, but that might change on Monday when they host the 1-2 Bulls.