Too much? Knicks can’t feel great about mortgaging future after Mikal Bridges, KAT debuts

The Boston Celtics wasted no time reminding everyone why they're the consensus favorites to repeat as NBA champions this season on opening night. Shortly after the ring ceremony and hanging of Banner 18, they blitzed the new-look New York Knicks out of the gates.

While the Celtics understandably garnered most of the attention throughout the evening, the Knicks had storylines worth tracking. Primarily, how New York's revamped starting five looked following the marquee offseason additions of 3-and-D swingman Mikal Bridges and All-Star big man Karl-Anthony Towns. However, neither performed particularly well in their team debut, almost to worrisome degrees.

Should the Knicks feel internal concern after seeing how the Bridges/Towns era kicked off? The front office sold the farm to add them, thinking they'd be the missing links to a title contender. Yet, it felt like New York regressed from the previous campaign, albeit a one-game sample size.

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Too much? Knicks can’t feel great about mortgaging future after Mikal Bridges, KAT debuts

Given what New York gave up to acquire Bridges and Towns, expectations in the Big Apple are high. Not only this but many anticipated immediate results. Nonetheless, that didn't come to fruition against Boston, who romped the Knicks 132-109. Somehow, the box score doesn't properly reflect how bad of a beatdown it was.

New York looked discombobulated and out of sorts upon the contest tipping off. They played like a squad lacking cohesion on both ends of the court, particularly Towns and Bridges.

Due to the lopsided result, Towns was limited to 24 minutes. He scored 12 points on 5-of-9 shooting, including sinking one of two three-point attempts. Moreover, the seven-footer added seven rebounds and three assists. Overall, it wasn't a terrible performance, but the Celtics attacked him defensively and took away his biggest strength offensively -- stretching the floor.

Meanwhile, Bridges scored 16 points (7-of-13 shooting) with two assists. His unorthodox jumper form has been a main talking point since the summer, and the noise only amplified in the regular-season opener. But arguably more importantly, he struggled guarding Boston's top-tier wing duo: Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. No one can necessarily contain them, but the Knicks brought in the former All-Defensive Team player to put themselves in a position to do so.

Ultimately, Towns, Bridges and the Knicks failed to live up to the lofty expectations set for them to begin the year. But considering they matched up with the cream of the crop in their first action together, there's no need to jump to conclusions. Per ESPN Bet, Boston was considerably favored heading into the affair. Not to mention, TD Garden was buzzing because of the pregame festivities, so they had all the momentum. New York was never supposed to win this one, but losing the way they did surely turned heads (in a bad way).

Let's not hit the panic button on the Knicks yet.