On Wednesday evening, the New York Knicks opened up their 2023-24 season with a narrow home loss to the Boston Celtics. Although Boston controlled the game for the majority of the night, New York used an epic rally to actually take a lead late in the fourth quarter; however, the Celtics were able to make just a few more plays down the stretch to escape Madison Square Garden with the victory.

Still, the Knicks' impressive effort was enough to garner rave reviews from some pundits in the media.

ESPN NBA analyst Jay Williams was among those were impressed by how competitive the Knicks were able to stay against a championship contender in Boston.

“I think [the Knicks are] better than Cleveland,” said Williams. “I mean, they beat Cleveland last year in the playoffs… I'm looking at the Eastern Conference thinking it's wide open. I think the Knicks are the third best team.”

New York had a solid run in the 2022-23 season, dropping off the Cleveland Cavaliers in the first round before bowing out to the Miami Heat in Round 2. It's unclear what Williams thinks the Knicks did this offseason to push themselves past Miami; however, New York certainly does have a considerable amount of talent, led by Jalen Brunson and Julius Randle, who has always been a very solid regular season player with some playoff demons to exorcise.

The Knicks will next take the floor on October 27 against the Atlanta Hawks on the road. That game is slated to tip off at 7:30 PM ET.