Friday night at TD Garden brings Boston’s home opener, and it also brings a familiar face back into the building. The Celtics will face the Knicks, and Mitchell Robinson’s first game against his old team since leaving New York adds a sharp edge to the matchup.
Boston, the reigning NBA champions, still sit near the top of the title picture. New York, though, is dealing with the kind of roster squeeze the league’s new financial rules can create.
The parity-driving collective bargaining agreement pushed Robinson out of the mix, and the Knicks now have Andre Drummond in his place. That is a steep drop-off, especially for a team built around trying to stay at the top.
The issue for New York is not just Robinson. The Knicks also have yet to reach extensions with Karl-Anthony Towns, Josh Hart, and Miles McBride, leaving the future of that core unsettled. The source of the concern is simple: if the Knicks are going to chase the first back-to-back NBA titles since the Golden State Warriors in 2017 and 2018, they need more certainty than this.
Robinson’s return to Boston, however, is not about making a statement to the Knicks. His mindset is aimed squarely at cleaning up what happened in the Celtics’ 121-113 loss to the Detroit Pistons. Speaking with reporters at the Auerbach Center two days later, he did not hide how he felt about his own performance.
"I played like trash," he said on Thursday. "It doesn't really matter that I'm playing my former team.
It's more so just trying to bounce back from what happened two nights ago. At the end of the day, it's basketball, it's a business, and you've gotta play that team just like you play any other team."
That does not mean the emotional layer disappears. Robinson spent the first eight years of his career in New York, built real ties there, and was part of the run that ended a 53-year drought last June. A first meeting with that franchise after all of that still carries weight, even if he insists the focus is on the next game, not the old one.
From the Knicks’ side, the bigger problem is what Robinson used to give them. Drummond is a clear step down at center.
He can be targeted defensively, and he does not offer the kind of passing or perimeter handling Robinson can provide. Even more importantly, Robinson is the better rebounder - in fact, the best rebounder in the league since entering it.
That matters because New York already has fragile margins. If Towns were to get hurt, the team would have to scramble for answers, and the lack of flexibility could force them into a move that weakens another spot on the roster.
Even if Towns stays healthy and keeps any contract tension from spilling onto the floor, the drop-off when he sits is still a problem. Drummond is not Robinson, and those bench minutes could end up being decisive when the playoffs arrive.
Towns did raise his level on defense in the postseason, especially in the Finals against Victor Wembanyama. But the question hanging over the Knicks is whether that was the real thing or just a short stretch of postseason excellence. If that version does not hold, the second unit minutes become even more dangerous.
For Boston, though, the move away from New York worked in its favor. The Celtics get a chance to open at home, and Robinson gets a chance to move past a rough night against Detroit. In the process, he’ll also face the team he left behind, with a chance to remind them exactly what they no longer have.
In Other News...
Paul Georges Celtics Debut Came With One Awkward Twist
Paul Georges first night in a Celtics uniform had plenty for Boston to feel good about, even with the season opener ending in a loss to Detroit. The veteran wing arrived with the kind of scoring punch the Celtics expected, immediately showing why the team went after him, and he also climbed past Kyle Korver on the all-time 3-point list in the process.
Georges debut did come with one awkward footnote, though, after the league fined him $2,000 for a flopping incident in the fourth quarter against Duncan Robinson. It was a strange little coda to a performance that otherwise fit the kind of instant impact Boston was hoping for, and it left his first Celtics game as both a milestone and a reminder that even big nights can come with a hiccup. [Read more 🡒]
Celtics Let Opening Night Slip Away For One Frustrating Reason
For a while, it looked like Boston had done plenty to make the season opener routine. The Celtics built a 22-point lead against Detroit, only to watch it evaporate in a 121-113 loss that turned into a frustrating reminder that early-season games can flip fast when the energy and execution slip.
The second half was where everything tightened up on Bostons side, with offensive struggles and defensive lapses opening the door for Detroit to keep chipping away. Joe Mazzulla and Derrick White both pointed to the momentum swings and the Celtics inability to stabilize things, while the Pistons made the most of their perimeter shooting and second-chance opportunities to turn a night that felt under control into one Boston will want back. [Read more 🡒]
Mitchell Robinson Put Immediate Pressure On His Celtics Debut
Mitchell Robinsons first regular-season run with the Celtics offered a quick reminder that the adjustment period can start immediately. In his debut against the Pistons, Robinson was already measuring his own performance against the standard Boston expects, and he made clear afterward that he knows the next step is to bring a higher level of competition every night.
The early takeaway was less about the box score than the tone Robinson set for himself after the game. He pointed to his rebounding as the area that bothered him most, while also saying he tweaked his ankle but expects to be okay, leaving Boston with a clearer picture of both the physical and competitive demands that come with adding him to the mix. [Read more 🡒]