The Knicks defense took a hit in the mouth in their lopsided opening loss to the Celtics

Here's how Miles McBride summed up the Knicks' embarrassing opening night in Boston:

“This is championship-level basketball. For us it was a slap in the face and we have to react. Obviously it's been a long year. I can’t overreact to a game, but I don’t think you go into a year like that and set the tone.”

If you're wondering how to process what you saw from the Knicks on Tuesday, I think McBride offers a good blueprint.

Yes, you should worry about defense. It was historically bad. Tom Thibodeau And some players said the Knicks didn't provide the second- and third-down defense needed against a good team like the Celtics.

“One effort won’t be enough,” Thibodeau said.

It's too early to sound the alarm. Let’s see how the Knicks defend against Indiana on Friday night. Let's see where they are after 20 games. The training will take some time Karl Anthony cities And Mikal bridges, and get used to life without it Donte DiVincenzo, Julius Randle, Isaiah Hartenstein And Mitchell Robinson.

The Knicks are one game into an 82-game season. So you have plenty of time to find out.

But that doesn't make what happened Tuesday night acceptable.

“I think it just depends on the defensive performance. I feel like we could have just put in more effort,” McBride said late Tuesday. “I feel like our first attempt was there. But the second and third things have to be better.”

THE NOISE ABOUT MIKAL

Bridges' new jump shot attracted a lot of attention in the preseason. His high release point was analyzed all over social media after Bridges missed 17 of his 19 three-point attempts in the preseason.

Josh Hart don't want to hear it.

“We don’t care about all the background noise about Mikal and his shot — we don’t care,” Hart said after the Knicks’ loss. “He puts in a lot of work every day. He will be good. The talk about it is stupid, and there is stupidity behind it, because at the end of the day he was a nearly 40% three-point shooter. It’s stupid to talk about it and we’re not really going to get into it.”

Bridges knocked down two of his three three-point attempts in the second half and had a total of 16 points in the final two quarters. He then praised his teammates for continuing to look for him after his difficult first half.

“Making one is like taking the lid off. But that’s pretty much it, just my teammates finding me and staying aggressive,” Bridges said.