NBA Opening Night live: Celtics-Knicks; Timberwolves-Lakers - ESPN
The 2024-25 NBA season begins Tuesday! Two blockbuster games — one with the NBA champions and the other featuring future Hall of Famer LeBron James — get things goings before other teams begin their campaigns on Wednesday.
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The first game on Tuesday saw the defending champion Boston Celtics defeat the New York Knicks in a blowout 132-109 win in which the hosts tied an NBA record for most 3-pointers (29) in a game. Ahead of tipoff at TD Garden, Celtics will unveiled their record 18th championship banner while also receiving their title rings.
The second game of the night will see Anthony Edwards and the Minnesota Timberwolves at the Los Angeles Lakers, where James made NBA history by playing alongside Bronny James — marking the first time a father-son duoplayed in an NBA regular season game together.
Follow along with live updates, top highlights and in-game analysis from our ESPN insiders.
Jump to: Takeaways, updates from Celtics-Knicks
Celtics make the most of their special night
These nights typically see the team that got its championship rings struggle to maintain focus. Instead, this night became one where the only drama was the farcical fourth quarter attempts to break the all-time 3-point record, as Boston emphatically proved Joe Mazzulla's belief that this team can attack this season like it didn't win last year. For all of the pressure that was on the Celtics last year, one can credibly argue Boston has less pressure on it this year. The Celtics played that way Tuesday.
New York, meanwhile, spent its postgame pointing to the rather obvious