The Knicks are ready for the home opener as they analyze the A-Z meltdown to start the season

Mikal Bridges has played at the Garden as a college player at Villanova, as a guest player in the NBA and in the preseason with the Knicks.

But after an otherwise forgettable debut for their new team on Tuesday night in Boston, Bridges and fellow newcomer Karl-Anthony Towns will play their first regular-season game at MSG on Friday night against the Pacers, who eliminated the Knicks in the playoffs last spring.

“Excited, man, really excited,” Bridges said after practice Thursday in Tarrytown. “I mean, I felt the energy in the preseason games. I'm just excited to go out there and get a chance to get a win. It’s going to be really fun.”

Tuesday's opening game in Beantown was no fun for anyone associated with the Knicks, as the Celtics raised their latest championship banner before dispatching the visitors, setting an NBA record with 29 made 3-pointers set up.

Towns had a quiet 12 points and seven rebounds and Bridges finished with 16 after a scoreless first half. Admittedly, he also had a poor game defensively while mostly protecting Jayson Tatum, who sank eight treys and finished with 37 points.

“I think we all just didn't put enough pressure on the ball and I think they just got too comfortable,” Bridges said. “I think it starts with reacting aggressively to the ball, applying pressure, getting out of the ball screens from there and then flying around and being alert, being right there when they want to shoot.”

Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau noted that OG Anunoby also spent time guarding Tatum, but after analyzing game film, he described the blowout as “a compilation of things from A to Z defensively: how we guarded the ball.” , our posture, challenging shots, giving up second shots. So we have to clean this up.”

Bridges, who missed 17 of 19 shots from 3-point range in the preseason, was encouraged by hitting two of three shots from long range in the second half against the Celtics and making seven of his final eight shot attempts overall.

With two new starters and several new rotation players due to trades and injuries, the Knicks are trying to build chemistry on the fly.

Still, as All-Star point guard Jalen Brunson pointed out after the Boston massacre, the lack of familiarity is “not an excuse” for the Knicks to “get their ass kicked.”

“I think we're just trying to find our identity, find it as a team and find our culture as a team,” said Bridges, who was acquired from the Nets. “So it’s about keeping everyone together and trying to find our culture and what team we want to be.”

Brunson, who was named the team's captain in the offseason, has typically taken it upon himself to integrate Bridges – his former Villanova teammate – and Towns more seamlessly.

“We just didn’t show up as a team. And that starts with me,” Brunson said Thursday. “Practice harder, be better at it. (It's) repetition and honestly just being better. It's that simple. You can talk about Xs and Oes. But you just have to start the game (better). We didn't show up.

“We need to (build chemistry). We have no other choice if we want to be a good team.”

Thibodeau called the merger “the challenge for any team,” but it wasn't easy after the Knicks left the 50-win squad last year with the departures of Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo in the Towns trade with Minnesota and Isaiah Hartenstein via a free agency Agency had revised. Big men Mitchell Robinson and Precious Achiuwa are also out with injuries to start the season.

“That’s why you do your best every day and strive to improve,” Thibodeau said. “The games tell you exactly where you are, they tell you what things you need to work on, and even when things are going well, if you slip up you have to fix it.

“So it’s consistent over the course of a season and that’s why you want to understand why you won or lost, make the necessary corrections and move on.”