There are no bottle episodes in this New York Knicks season.

The path for the Knicks’ most legitimately hopeful season in recent memory has been laid out, as most of the NBA’s 2024-25 regular season schedule was released on Thursday. While two matchups have yet to be determined thanks to currently unestablished NBA Cup, the Knicks and their NBA brethren know where they’re going come fall, winter, and spring.

Catching all 82 Knick games is a tall task for even the bluest Manhattanite, but there are certain dates on the schedule that just can’t be missed …

There’s no use playing the “what if” game, but Knicks fans will likely take their turns thanks to the hypotheticals of last season. The Knicks’ most successful season in over a decade ended with heartbreak in the second round but many have soothed themselves with the theory that their team was simply too injured to make a realistic run at the title rather than further clinging to the franchise’s star-crossed nature.

The NBA has more or less decided to give the Knicks a chance to prove whether advancement was truly a medical issue, scheduling their first two games against the defending Eastern Conference finalists … including the Indiana Pacers, the team that ended the season in question, as the opponent in their 2024-25 home opener at Madison Square Garden.

But the matchup with the reigning champion Celtics is far more intriguing: even though Boston healthily handled the Knicks in four get-togethers, the fifth, a 118-109 New York victory on Apr. 11, lingers as an interesting outlier thanks to the prescience of OG Anunoby and the conflicted nature of a Celtics team playing their starters despite having the top seed in the East completely wrapped up. It was a game that was hardly as close as the final scoreboard indicated, as the Celtics trailed by as much as 31 before beautifying the tally in the fourth quarter.

By facing the Celtics in their opening game, the Knicks have a chance to prove their worth without the plot armor of excuses. They’ll have a presumably healthy group to work barring a disaster and have a chance to show whether that early spring clash was the exception or a new normal.

As it enters its second staging, it’s hard to truly gauge the success and value of the NBA’s in-season tournament. It’s obviously here to stay … as evidenced by its new, firm “NBA Cup” branding … but its value beyond adding some meaning to the doldrums of fall basketball continues to stand as a talking point.

The Knicks undoubtedly benefited from the inaugural edition: it gave a group with some new moving pieces (i.e. Donte DiVincenzo, full-season Josh Hart) a chance to develop chemistry amidst some early pressure, paving the way to 50 wins and the second seed in the East. New York also built some character in the process, taking down Miami in a vengeful display before beating up conference doormats Charlotte and Washington to secure the East’s wild card.

This time around, the Knicks have a chance to make a statement in their NBA Cup opener, facing the Philadelphia 76ers group that they disposed of in the opening round of “real” tournament. The Sixers, still holding a steadfast loyalty to “the process,” went out and reloaded upon their defeat, picking up Paul George as the headlining move of an Atlantic Division arms race.

Last season, the Knicks’ swiping of the Eastern wild card was a healthy display of how far they had come in year two of the Brunson era, but remember how that journey tipped off: the Knicks were forced to be wild card scavengers after dropping their opening group game to Milwaukee, who later took then down in the quarterfinal portion of the knockout round.

This time around, they stand where those Bucks stood, lingering as the group favorites eager to make an early statement. Writing an exclamation point against a revamped rival would be a formidable early statement.

The Knicks’ NBA Cup group slate concludes with a visit from the Magic. New York has once again been situated in a group that features two playoff teams from the prior season. A matchup with the Brooklyn Nets should draw bigger eyes and more headlines, but Orlando’s visit means something greater for the Knicks in a more long-term sense.

Orlando is in an intriguing, if not somewhat depressing, spot: there’s a solid young core in place headlined by Paolo Banchero but, barring a major free agency signing they probably can’t afford, no one in their right mind is putting the Magic in the East’s NBA Finals spot. All the while, they hang with some of the conference’s finest: they took an In-Season Tournament game from Boston last year and defeated the Knicks in three of their four meetings. Orlando finished three games behind the Knicks for the runner-up spot behind Boston as part of a cluster of formidable also-rans, one that finished a game from Play-In purgatory.

Are the Knicks more of a Boston or are they more of an Orlando? They obviously want to be the former but it’s hard to make the claim when you’re working on a conference final drought that’s old enough to drink. Philadelphia faces the same conundrum, but that’s far from consolation for a Knicks group that has its mind set on larger ambitions.

Mastering the Magic would be a good way to separate themselves from that bittersweet department, establishing some solid ground in both the short and long-term picture.

The hype over the NBA’s schedule release pales in comparison to that of the NFL’s, whose attachment of times and dates to matchups determined years in advance draws creates headline news. Reunion games, however, often draw a good amount of eyes, and there will be several on the Knicks’ radar.

The Knicks’ faceoff with Isaiah Hartenstein won’t set ratings records, but there’s no denying that the Oklahoma City Thunder’s newly-minted $87 million man played a major role in the last two years that helped shift the franchise’s fortunes. Hartenstein wound up chasing Western Conference money after he was one of several metropolitan depth stars that rose to the occasion in the wake of the aforementioned injuries, namely the ankle woes of Mitchell Robinson.

The idea of two overachiers (both surprisingly finished in the top couple of their respective conference) packed with rising stars is attractive enough, but this is a landmark game for the Knicks in more ways than one.

One of the most uncomfortable truths of last Knicks season was that Hartenstein played just a little too well … well enough that his two-year, $16 million contract looked like a bigger bargain with each passing day but to a point where he’d effectively play himself out of the Knicks’ affordable price rang. New York could’ve made things easier for itself by trading Robinson but he’s back for a seventh season now that Hartenstein is gone.

Hartenstein’s departure has drawn attention to the Knicks’ depth behind Robinson … or lack thereof. Jericho Sims is the top backup five while the Knicks waited until the draft’s literal last minute to address the spot, choosing Westchester-bound Ariel Hukporti with the 58th and final selection. The Knicks did engage in some last-minute shopping by re-signing Precious Achiuwa, but the former Toronto Raptor envisions himself as more of a four rather than a true center.

Will the Knicks have their interior issues settled by the time they face Hartenstein twice in a week? Or will the reunions be ones of regret?

The Knicks’ final game of the regular season comes against a fateful opponent and it’s one by which everything the prior 81 games led to.

Never mind the supposed rivalry with the Nets; the Knicks clearly have the upper hand and it’s hardly worth mentioning. Never mind a Mikal Bridges reunion on Atlantic Avenue; he’ll likely get his video tribute on Jan. 21.

But considering the rare trade the Knicks enacted with the Nets, one that brought Bridges services over for a major haul of draft picks, this game will serve as an inevitable measuring stick as to whether it was well worth trading for the vibes of Bridges. New York is banking on further Villanova ingredients creating a championship entree and they gave up a hefty draft ransom to run such an experiment. They’ll have a good idea where that stands by the time they visit Bridges’ former stomping grounds for the regular season finale.

By all accounts, the Knicks shouldn’t be fighting for their playoff lives or seeding toward the bottom of the bracket by the time they get to the end. If they do, that opens a whole new …. and quite uncomfortable … conversation.

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