Those empty possessions mostly came from Jayson Tatum. He had 11 assists but shot 6-for-23 and 0-for-7 from three, coming off a strong preseason. Derrick White was steady with 17 points on 8-for-13 and 8 assists. With George playing like that, Tatum doesn't need to carry Boston. He just can't be a hole in the offense when Boston needs a bucket late.
Boston's frontcourt is the bigger worry. Detroit grabbed 14 offensive rebounds, and Jalen Duren put up 22 and 9. Mitchell Robinson twisted his ankle in a second-quarter collision with Duren. He came back in the second half, but he finished with 4 points and 3 rebounds in 18 minutes. Neemias Queta added 4 and 4 in 22. Mazzulla also started Jordan Walsh for only 13 minutes and gave Sam Hauser and Baylor Scheierman real run, so the rotation is clearly still being worked out.
Devin Carter is the only name on either injury report. Boston's young guard has mono and no timetable to return, which thins out the backcourt behind White. New York's report is empty, and our recap of the Philly game called these "the healthy Knicks." That made the loss harder to take, not easier. The Knicks had everybody and still couldn't answer once Philadelphia took over in the third.
This is Boston's home opener, it tips at 7:00 PM ET on Friday, October 23, and neither team plays again before then. So both get 2 full days to stew over an opener they gave away. It's the Knicks-Celtics rivalry with the defending champs walking into the Garden. One of these teams is about to be 0-2 and getting asked about it all week.