New York Knicks The defense struggled mightily in the season-opening loss to the Boston Celtics at TD Garden.

During the game, the Celtics made 50.5 percent of their shots from the field, 47.5 percent from behind the three-point line. The Celtics made 29 three-pointers, tying the NBA record for most three-pointers made in a game.

While the Celtics are doing a good job shooting the ball, Knicks He could have played better defense and coach Tom Thibodeau is hoping to overcome that poor performance.

“We’ll take a look at what we’ve done, what we need to fix, and then we’ll get back to work.” Thibodeau said h/t Submission and Roasting. “Every match teaches you something. Sometimes you do things well, sometimes you don’t do things as well as you should. But understand why you lost or won and take the necessary steps to move forward.”

Defense is the backbone of any Thibodeau coach, so starting the season flat on the floor may have been a bit disappointing for the Knicks coach.

Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns, who Thibodeau coached at the Minnesota Timberwolves between 2016-19, also knows how important it is to be strong defensively.

“I’m very confident offensively, but we have to show the defensive identity that will make us special,” Towns said. “Once we figure this out, we’ll take the next step and we can be the team we want to be.”

Knicks They have plenty of time to turn things around and their opponents don’t usually make 29 threes in a game, but their performance to start the season will highlight the importance of defensive improvement and the team could use this game as a tool to gain an advantage. It gets better later in the year.

Be sure to bookmark New York Knicks On SI for the latest news, exclusive interviews, movie recaps and more!