The Knicks were in their first game of the new season right until the end, despite a wayward shooting night pretty much from start to finish by their top two returning scorers.
The Knicks’ couldn’t fully overcome a combined 11-for-43 shooting night from the floor by Julius Randle and Jalen Brunson in their 108-104 season-opening loss to the Celtics at the Garden.
“I don’t know, man. We just missed shots. The basket had a lid on it,” Randle said after missing 17 of 22, plus four of five from the free-throw line, to finish with 14 points. “But those are shots that we’ll take and we’ll make.”
Brunson shot just 6-for-21 from the field, and he also missed his lone free-throw attempt, a key technical foul shot with 2:03 left in the fourth quarter.
“One, I gotta be better. Yeah, way better,” said Brunson, who had 15 points and six assists. “It comes down to us playing a full 48 minutes. We had a six-point lead with like four minutes left. We just didn’t get it done.
“I missed a big free throw off the technical, lost a little momentum with that. So I need to be better, first and foremost. … I just gotta be better, more patient, gotta be under control. I just missed shots that I normally make. So I’m not really too worried about it, but I need to be better.”
The $104 million point guard also refused to use opening night jitters as an excuse for his poor play.
“I hold myself to a higher standard. I just have to be better, no matter what night it is,” he said. “If basketball is being played, I gotta be the best, whenever I can be available.
“Missing free throws are mental, especially at home. The mistakes that we made, a couple of turnovers I had. I think most importantly for us is we gotta keep stacking days. Obviously we didn’t play the best that we wanted. Playing against a team like that, at home, it just shows us what we need to do to be better. There’s a lot of positives to take from it, but we still gotta learn.”
Randle did knock down a go-ahead 3-pointer with 4:27 remaining in the fourth and finished the game 3-for-8 from beyond the arc.
Still, Randle and Brunson, the team’s leading scorers last season, also missed several shots from close range throughout the game.
“I think we missed shots that we normally make, easy ones around the rim,” Randle said. “I can count three or four around the rim for me, personally, that — those are bunnies that I usually make. Started off the game missing bunnies.
“Nights like these happen. Sucks opening night, but that’s why it’s an 82-game season. We’ll bounce back. I’ll bounce back. We’ll be fine.”