Karl-Anthony Towns' Knicks debut didn't have much of an impact

BOSTON – Karl-Anthony Towns didn't make much of an impression in his Knicks debut.

The four-time All-Star center finished the Knicks' season-opening loss to the Celtics on Tuesday night with a quiet 12 points and seven rebounds.

Towns was acquired in a blockbuster trade as the man under center following the absences of free agent Isaiah Hartenstein and the injured Mitchell Robinson. Towns had zero blocked shots and finished the 24th minute at minus-18.

“It's not one guy,” Tom Thibodeau said when asked afterward about Towns' first game with the team. “Of course we have to get better. So we look at the film and what adjustments we need to make.”

Still, the Celtics often targeted Towns on screens and made an NBA-record 29 three-pointers in the game, including eight from Jayson Tatum, six from Derrick White, five from Jaylen Brown and three from veteran center Al Horford.

“You have to give credit where credit is due. They hit a lot of threes, they made a lot of shots,” said Towns, who was acquired as part of the deal that sent Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo to Minnesota just before the start of training camp. “You shoot 61 threes in a game, they definitely shoot the ball, so we have to be better defensively. I just think we just didn't do enough defensively to give ourselves a chance to win the game.

“We simply have to implement this goal better. Our defensive identity will give us the chance to do something great. Offensively, I think we showed tonight that we can score, we just have to play defense.”

With Towns and Mikal Bridges new to the Knicks' starting lineup, the Celtics' cohesion and familiarity with each other was hard to miss.

“I think if you shoot the way they shoot, the numbers show how great their offense is,” Thibodeau said. “And that's why you have to go into the game with awareness – it will require great effort and great concentration in every game. We knew that from the start.

“You have to be strong defensively and we have to be strong offensively. So that’s the biggest thing.”