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The Knicks and Nets look to elevate as the new season approaches 

The Knicks and Nets held their annual and obligatory media day events this past Monday with preseason beginning next week and the regular season commencing in less than three weeks.

The Knicks host the Boston Celtics on Monday at Madison Square Garden in the first of their four preseason games and the Nets will open versus the Los Angeles Lakers on Monday in Las Vegas as they also have a four-game preseason slate.

The Knicks’ 2023 regular season debut will be against the Celtics at MSG on October 25 and the schedule makers have the Nets facing the Cleveland Cavaliers at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn on the same night.     

Last season, the Knicks finished 47-35 and were the No. 5 seed in the Eastern Conference. They made their first playoff appearance since the 2012-13 campaign and after defeating the Cleveland Cavaliers 4-1 in the opening round, advanced to the conference semifinals for the first time in the past 10 years. The Knicks lost 4-2 to the eventual Eastern Conference champion Miami Heat.

 The Knicks made two significant roster moves this summer. They traded power forward Obi Toppin to the Indiana Pacers, where he is expected to receive more minutes on the floor than the 14.7 per game the 25-year-old Brooklyn native averaged in his three seasons with the franchise that drafted him No. 8 overall in 2020.

The other transaction of note was the signing of free-agent guard Donte DiVincenzo, who played for the Golden State Warriors last season, to a four-year, $50 million deal. The 26-year-old combo guard from Villanova is reunited with his college teammates, Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart.   

The makeup of the Knicks will look nearly identical to last year’s squad. Head coach Tom Thibodeau doesn’t have designs to change his starting lineup from a season ago of Mitchell Robinson, Julius Randle, RJ Barrett, Quentin Grimes and Jalen Brunson.

“It’s hard to argue with a 37-22 record and a plus five net rating,” said Thibodeau on Monday, referencing the success of that group.

The second unit will be led by Josh Hart and Immanuel Quickley—runner up to former Celtic Malcolm Brogdon (traded by Boston to the Portland Trailblazers last week) for the 2022-23 NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year award.

“It’s pretty much the same group, but we’ve got to continue to find ways to get better,” said Brunson at media day.

The Nets were the No. 6 seed in the East last season with a record of 45-37 amid constant turmoil and dysfunction for much of the season. They traded disgruntled superstars Kevin Durant (Phoenix Suns) and Kyrie Irving (Dallas Mavericks) in February and landed a young, emerging star from the Suns in 27-year-old forward Mikal Bridges, another Villanova product.  The Nets were swept 4-0 in the first round of the playoffs by the Philadelphia 76ers.

The pressing question for the Nets is if forward Ben Simmons can reclaim his all-star form. Injuries and mental health issues have plagued Simmons since he was acquired by the Nets from the 76ers in September of 2022 in a trade that sent James Harden to Philly.

The 27-year-old Simmons played in just 42 games last season averaging 6.9 points, 6.3 rebounds and 6.1 assists. 

The post The Knicks and Nets look to elevate as the new season approaches  appeared first on New York Amsterdam News.

* This article was originally published here