New York Knicks: Ranking the regular season games for October 2019

3. Oct. 26 vs. Boston Celtics

One of two Atlantic Division matchups in October, the New York Knicks will have their first home game of the regular season on Saturday, the 26th, against the Boston Celtics, who comes to Madison Square Garden with a fresh look.

Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Gordon Hayward are back, but Kemba Walker replaces Kyrie Irving as one of this team’s faces and as the lead point guard. The days of controversial media remarks from the departed superstar are over; however, the high expectations are not, after a disappointing 2018-19 season that projected a deeper run in the playoffs than the second round.

Walker headlines that new group, but Enes Kanter is another addition to this playoff-hopeful team, and Knicks fans are all too familiar with him.

Kanter’s return does not require a national audience, but this is his first return to Madison Square Garden for a game since the Knicks waived him. After offseason criticism of the team and how his departure transpired, this may not be a welcomed return for the Turkish center.

That aside, Celtics vs. Knicks games have slight meaning towards the division, and it matches up two teams that have gone head-to-head for decades. One squad may sit a new notches higher than the other, but it should still make for an interesting matchup during the first weekend of the season.