The NBA season is back. Or it will be, rather, once the clock strikes 7:30 pm EST on Oct. 22, with the Boston Celtics and New York Knicks scheduled as the first game for 2024-2025. The reigning champs will receive their championship rings, and the Knicks will try their best to spoil the mood of the evening after tip-off. But they'll be doing so down a couple of bodies.
In an Oct. 21 edition of the NBA's Injury Report, New York listed three players as OUT for the season-opener: Precious Achiuwa, Kevin McCullar Jr., and Mitchell Robinson. Backup guard Miles McBride, who missed the preseason finale with what was dubbed as "rest," will be available for the Knicks.
No one expected any of the three players to be active. McCullar Jr. is rehabbing injuries from college and has yet to make a public appearance in New York gear. Achiuwa strained his left hamstring in the preseason finale, and was given a two-to-four week timeline before he'll be reevaluated. And the team's longest tenured player, Robinson, is rehabbing an ankle that will keep him sidelined until January.
On the flip side, Boston listed Kristaps Porzingis as OUT for the matchup with the Knicks. After suffering a torn retinaculum and dislocated posterior tibialis tendon, he too is expected to be out for the first few months of the 2024-2025 season.
