The New York Knicks waited 53 years for another championship, and their first road trip as champions goes straight to Boston. Knicks vs Celtics on Friday, October 23, tips at 7 p.m. ET (midnight in the UK) on Prime Video, the first half of its Friday doubleheader. It's game two for both teams, and our first real look at how a reshaped Celtics roster holds up against the team that beat them in the playoffs two springs ago.
The Knicks, finally
New York beat the San Antonio Spurs 4-1 in the 2026 Finals, finishing the series on June 13 for the franchise's third title and first since 1973. Jalen Brunson was Finals MVP after dropping 45 in the clinching Game 5. The Knicks had already won the 2025 NBA Cup, so they open 2026-27 holding both trophies.
The playoff run was ridiculous. After finishing third in the East at 53-29, they beat Atlanta 4-2, swept Philadelphia, swept Cleveland in the conference finals and lost once to the Spurs. Sixteen wins, three losses.
They raise the banner at Madison Square Garden against Philadelphia on Tuesday, October 20, three nights before this. Mike Brown, in his second season, kept the core together. Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns, Mikal Bridges, OG Anunoby and Josh Hart are all back, Jordan Clarkson, Landry Shamet and Jose Alvarado re-signed, and Andre Drummond came over from Philadelphia.
Boston Celtics
New York KnicksA very different Boston
Boston's last 18 months have been injuries and then reinvention. Jayson Tatum tore his Achilles in the 2025 playoffs and missed the first 62 games of last season, returning on March 6, 2026, against Dallas. The Celtics still went 56-26 and got the No. 2 seed, then blew a 3-1 first-round lead and lost to Philadelphia in seven.
Then Brad Stevens made the biggest move of the summer. Jaylen Brown, the 2024 Finals MVP, went to the 76ers for Paul George and four future picks, two of them first-rounders. It's the first Celtics opening-day roster without Brown since 2015-16. Mike Conley arrived from Minnesota, and, in a twist for this game, Mitchell Robinson left the Knicks and signed in Boston to give Joe Mazzulla a defensive center.
George turned 36 in May. He gives Mazzulla a second star wing next to Tatum and a playmaker who can run the offense when Derrick White sits. How fast that clicks will decide a lot of Boston's season. Their opener is at Detroit on October 20, so this is the home debut.
Knicks vs Celtics lately
New York has had the better of this one for a while. The Knicks won the 2025 East semifinals 4-2, then took last season's regular-season series 3-1: 105-95 at home on October 24, 2025, a 123-117 loss in Boston in December, a 111-89 win at TD Garden in February and 112-106 at home in April.
Preseason went the other way, for whatever that's worth. As of October 14, the Knicks are 0-3 after losses to Philadelphia, Washington and Minnesota. Boston is 2-0, beating Cleveland 124-113 and Philadelphia 144-106, with Payton Pritchard scoring 25 in the second. I'd mostly ignore it, though it does suggest the new Celtics are getting comfortable quickly.
Brunson and Tatum
White and Conley will take turns on Brunson, and Mazzulla will try to keep him out of the paint without leaving Towns and Bridges open. Good luck. Brunson has been at his best in the biggest games, and he's already beaten this team in a playoff series.
With Brown gone, Boston is Tatum's team in a way it hasn't quite been before. His first full season back from the Achilles will be judged partly on nights like this, against Anunoby and Bridges, two of the best wing defenders in the league.
The pick
Boston will have a crowd that wants to see George and Tatum together, and the Knicks will be three days removed from an emotional ring night. Early games between rivals can turn on that kind of energy. I still trust New York's deeper, more settled rotation, and they won three of four meetings last season. Knicks 112, Celtics 108, with Brunson scoring 30.
Prime Video is the US home for this one. You can also watch Knicks vs Celtics free on DAMITV, in HD with no signup, through the NBA streams page. The Knicks and Celtics team pages keep every game in one place, and Spanish speakers can use NBA en vivo. Earlier that week, our Lakers vs Warriors preview covers both teams' opener in Los Angeles. The full calendar is on the official NBA schedule.
