Report: Knicks vs. Celtics headlines NBA’s opening day

The NBA will have the New York Knicks travel to Boston to take on the Celtics and the Minnesota Timberwolves play the Lakers in L.A. on the opening day of the 2024-25 NBA season, according to The Athletic’s Shams Charania.

The two games will be played on Tuesday, Oct. 22, and are set to be broadcast on TNT.

The Celtics will also receive their championship rings from the 2023-24 season, Charania adds.

Boston is coming off a dominant title-winning year in which the team finished first in the Eastern Conference with a record of 64-18. Meanwhile, New York won 50 games for the first time since the 2012-13 campaign, placing second in the East.

The Celtics are returning their entire core after they re-signed point Derrick White and gave star Jayson Tatum the biggest extension in league history. Tatum, White, and point guard Jrue Holiday were members of the U.S. Olympic squad that won the gold medal in Paris.

The Knicks acquired former Villanova star Mikal Bridges from the Brooklyn Nets this offseason, sending four first-round selections and veteran Bojan Bogdanovic to their crosstown rival.

The Celtics went 4-1 against the Knicks last year.

In the West Coast matchup, conference finalist Minnesota will go to L.A. to take on the Lakers. Last year was the first time the Timberwolves won a playoff series since the 2003-04 season. LeBron James is fresh off his Olympic tournament MVP performance after he led the Americans to gold. After going 47-35 in 2023-24, the Lakers lost in the first round of the postseason to the Denver Nuggets for a second consecutive year.

Los Angeles lost three of their four matchups against Minnesota in the 2023-24 regular season.

Golden State Warriors legend Klay Thompson will make his first appearance in the Bay Area as a member of the Dallas Mavericks on Nov. 12, according to Charania.