3 New York Knicks to blame for season-opening loss to Boston Celtics

1. Julius Randle

While he played better in the second half of this game, Julius Randle did not play well overall. Randle shot 22 percent from the floor for the entire game which is extremely poor. To be quite honest, his play on the offensive end seemed similar to his play in the postseason last year. The Knicks had a lot of other reasons for their sloppy play, but it seemed like Randle was a big reason that the offense was chaotic.

Randle's play in the first half of the game was downright awful, as he took ten shots and only made one of them. To be quite honest if Randle or Brunson played slightly better in this game, the Knicks probably would have won. The Celtics were not playing sharp ball themselves and were allowing the Knicks to come back multiple times.

New York can probably get away with this type of play from their highest-paid players against lower-tier opponents, but the squad did nothing to prove that they can end up in the top-three of the East. Randle had some bright spots in this game, including a three-pointer from the corner that helped cut into the Celtics lead.

Still, his offensive troubles were more impactful than ever. There are lot more games to be played but it's never too early for a wake-up call for Randle.