The New York Knicks will host the Boston Celtics at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday evening.

The Knicks were one of the most impressive teams during the preseason after going undefeated, and while that doesn't mean anything heading into the grind of the regular season, the franchise is certainly on the rise after reaching the playoffs in 2020-21. The Knicks posted a 41-31 record during the 2020-21 regular season and finished as the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference, and considering they will have their core for this season mostly unchanged, the expectations are quite high for Tom Thibodeau's team. The Knicks also posted a 25-11 record at home during last season, and they have everything in place to repeat what they already accomplished last season. The play of star forward Julius Randle, who averaged a career-high 24.1 points per game to go along with 10.2 rebounds per contest, will be pivotal for the team's success.

The Celtics were one of the biggest disappointments during the 2020-21 NBA season, hovering around the .500 mark during most of the campaign and ultimately finishing in seventh place of the Eastern Conference with a 36-36 mark -- something that resulted in a first-round playoff exit. Brad Stevens is no longer the head coach, and the roster underwent quite a few changes compared to the previous campaign. The Celtics should be primed for a bounce-back year solely based on the quality of their players, but ultimately, this is a team that will go as far as the star duo of Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum can carry it. Unfortunately, Brown has been listed as a game-time call for the season opener due to COVID-19 protocols. Al Horford has already been ruled out due to the same reason.

These teams played three times during the 2020-21 NBA regular season and the Knicks edged that series by a 2-1 score.