NBA 2024-25: Boston Celtics To Start Title Defense Against New York Knicks

NBA Finals MVP Jaylen Brown: The 2024-25 NBA season will tip off with the 2024 NBA Champions Boston Celtics receiving their championship rings ahead of a high-stakes matchup with the New York Knicks, followed by a generational clash with 17-time NBA winner Los Angeles Lakers taking on the Minnesota Timberwolves on the opening night.

The defending NBA champions Celtics have brought back every rotation player from their dominant 2023-24 team which produced the league’s best regular-season record, ranked first in the league in offensive rating and second in defensive rating, and won the franchise’s record 18th title.

Three-time All-NBA First Team selection Jayson Tatum and 2024 NBA Finals MVP Jaylen Brown are set to lead the franchise into potentially becoming the first team since the 2018 Golden State Warriors to successfully defend their NBA Championship, and the first Eastern Conference team since Cleveland Cavaliers in 2018 to make back-to-back trips to the NBA Finals.

The Knicks are coming off an Eastern Conference Semifinals appearance behind first-time NBA All-Star Jalen Brunson, who earned All-NBA Second Team honours and finished fifth in voting for the NBA MVP Award. The team made massive changes over the offseason, acquiring four-time NBA All-Star Karl-Anthony Towns and guard-forward Mikal Bridges, a 2021-22 NBA All-Defensive First Team selection who has averaged 19.9 points over the last two seasons.

The Knicks also signed defensive specialist OG Anunoby to a long-term contract extension after going 20-3 with him in the lineup during the regular season following his acquisition from the Toronto Raptors last season.

The Los Angeles Lakers are coming off a first-round Playoff exit in 2023-24 but are set to have a red-letter year, particularly for LeBron James. The NBA’s all-time scoring leader and 20-time NBA All-Star will play his record-tying 22nd NBA season, which will be his first with his son Bronny James as a teammate. They’re the first father-son duo to be teammates in the NBA with the pair potentially sharing the court together against the Timberwolves in a historic moment.

Lakers forward-center Anthony Davis is coming off a season where he made his ninth NBA All-Star team, was selected to the All-NBA Second Team and NBA All-Defensive First Team, and finished fourth in the voting for the NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award.

The roster as a whole will have a familiar look under new head coach JJ Redick as its top five scorers from last season are back: James, Davis, guards D’Angelo Russell and Austin Reaves and forward Rui Hachimura.

The Minnesota Timberwolves ranked as the NBA’s top defense in the regular season and made a run to the Western Conference Finals, their second appearance in franchise history. Guard Anthony Edwards is coming off an All-NBA Second Team selection and his second NBA All-Star selection. He will open the season against his Team USA teammates James and Davis, as the trio won Gold at the 2024 Paris Olympics over the summer.

The Timberwolves have a new look this season, acquiring three-time NBA All-Star Julius Randle to play alongside four-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert and 2023-24 Sixth Man of the Year Naz Reid.

The wing rotation features forward Jaden McDaniels, who was named to the 2023-24 NBA All-Defensive Second Team, and new addition Donte DiVincenzo, who averaged a career-high 15.5 points and ranked third in the NBA in three-pointers made with 283 last season.

The Timberwolves have a new look this season, acquiring three-time NBA All-Star Julius Randle to play alongside four-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert and 2023-24 Sixth Man of the Year Naz Reid.

Article Source: IANS