New York Knicks vs Boston Celtics: A Foggy Mirror Image
By James Ryder
The New York Knicks and Boston Celtics Have Several Star Players
The Knicks will be looking to continue their upswing of success while the C’s will try to make a much-anticipated bounce back.
Thankfully for both teams, they definitely have the talent to achieve such goals despite playing in a crowded Eastern Conference.
Boston saw their two best players make their first All-Star Game together last year. Jaylen Brown made his first appearance alongside now 2-time All-Star Jayson Tatum.
Tatum is already a player on the borderline of being Top 10 in the NBA, while Brown is still ascending. The duo is top-notch on both ends of the court and can one day be good enough to bring Boston its first championship since 2008.
The Knicks have gone much longer without a title, but they too have their sights on getting back to the Finals thanks to some big-time contributors.
Like Brown, Julius Randle made his first All-Star game last February.
As for who can be the final piece to a Knicks All-Star duo that mirrors the Celtics, New York has two candidates with a pretty decent chance. The most likely and obvious is Kemba Walker.
Walker was given the honor 4 times from 2016-2020, the latest in which came during his first year in Boston. Cardiac Kemba is 31 years old and just one season removed from that last all-star season.
If he can have a healthy start to this year, it is very possible that he returns to that elite level and throws his hat in the ring to be selected.
Then there is RJ Barrett. Barrett is coming off an incredible sophomore season. The leap he took was evident in all of his stats and was obvious in almost any game he played. The defense was fantastic and the shooting improvement was phenomenal.
A similar third-year leap for RJ in which he is once again the second best player on a winning Knicks team can lead to his first-ever All-Star Game selection.
At the end of the day, these teams will only go as far as their stars take them. Each organization has some very talented players who will be the biggest determining factors in how far they go.