The New York Knicks beat Boston Celtics by 114-107 on Monday Night, at the Maddison Square Garden to open the 2023 preseason.
The Celtics used most of their backups, sitting out many top players (including Jaylen Brown, Al Horford, Jrue Holiday, Kristaps Porzingis, and Jayson Tatum), the Knicks opened the game with last year’s starting five.
Jalen Brunson scored 10 points (4-of-5 shooting) in just six minutes while Julius Randle had 11 and four rebounds in 13.
Mitchell Robinson did work at both ends of the floor (10 points, 7 rebounds, 3 blocks, and 2 steals).
RJ Barrett led the starters with a dozen points despite shooting 1-of-6 from the field (he did go 9-of-9 from the foul line after shooting 74 percent from the charity stripe last season).
Immanuel Quickley led the Knicks (1-0) with 21 points, scoring 14 in the third quarter, which helped a lot in the 2nd half.
Donte DiVincenzo also had eight points off the bench in his unofficial Knicks debut.
Boston rested its stars after beating Philadelphia in an exhibition match.
Payton Pritchard led the Celtics in scoring with 21, just ahead of the 20 for Dalano Banton.
Former Knick Svi Mykhailiuk had 15 in relief.
The Knicks will resume preseason action on Saturday when they return to MSG to take on the Minnesota Timberwolves (7:30 p.m. ET, MSG/NBA TV).
