Knicks fall to Celtics 106-86

The New York Knicks played their first preseason game tonight against the Boston Celtics. After being a close game in the first half, the Knicks struggled in the second half. Boston went on to defeat New York 106-86.

It was a rough game for the Knicks who turned the ball over 28 times. Most turnovers came on poor passes and lack of movement. That can be attributed to the lack of playing time and chemistry together.

The Knicks also struggled from long range as they shot 21% in that area for the game. Shooting for this team will be a focal point this season. They have plenty of distance shooting on the roster and that shouldn't be an issue as they get into playing NBA basketball again.

This is the preseason and many of the things listed above will be cleaned up for the regular season.

There were some positives tonight. One of the positives was the play of Tim Hardaway Jr. He played plenty tonight and scored 18 points. Hardaway will be a very important player for the Knicks because of his ability to score. He was able to show some of that tonight in what was a nice game from him.

Defense was a big area of concern last year. Tonight the Knicks made defensive plays, but they also struggled at times. The Knicks say that's a area they are consistently working on. But that remains to be seen.

The Celtics played a much better game than the Knicks tonight. That could be because this is their second game and they should be more familiar, but overall they made plays. They were able to make plays defensively as they forced bad passes.

Jared Sullinger led the Celtics with 23 points and five rebounds. He was a load inside and outside as he made plays to help the Celtics win. He is coming off a strong season despite it being cut short due to injury.

Rookie Marcus Smart also was strong for the Celtics. He scored 11 points and dished out 6 assists. He looked good tonight shooting the ball and that is an area where he will be most beneficial.

With the first preseason game now in the books. The Knicks will now look to Saturday when they will take on the Celtics again. Iman Shumpert is expected to play in that game after missing tonight's game due to a hamstring injury. Jason Smith also missed tonight's game, but his absence was because of personal reasons.