New York Knicks vs Boston Celtics: Five Players to Watch

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Oct 19, 2016; Boston, MA, USA; Boston Celtics center Tyler Zeller (44) drives to the basket past New York Knicks center Joakim Noah (13) during the second half at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports /

The New York Knicks will be playing the Boston Celtics for the first time this season on Friday night. Here are five players to watch.

It has not been a great start to the season for either the New York Knicks or the Boston Celtics. Despite both teams having playoff aspirations, they will be entering Friday’s game with identical 3-4 records.

Due to all of the change this offseason for the Knicks with a new coach and new personnel, a slow start was to be expected. Even great teams like the Miami Heat struggled in the first half of the season when they assembled the “Big 3”. The Golden State Warriors have also lost a few games this season already, as chemistry takes time to build in the NBA.

One of the issues for the Knicks this season has been on defense. However, they finally showed some signs that they can play well on the defensive end of the court in their most recent game against the Brooklyn Nets. This, of course, has to take into account that the Nets are not a very good team, but the Knicks defense did look great in the second half. In seven games this season, that was the first time that the Knicks were able to hold a team under 100 points.

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For the Celtics, their slow start can be credited to two of their key players being injured. Both Al Horford and Jae Crowder have been out, and they will also both be out on Friday against the Knicks.

With a chance to improve to .500 for both teams, here are five players to watch on Friday night.

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