The Boston Celtics and the New York Knicks will tip off Amazon's new NBA on Prime coverage Friday night with a rematch at Madison Square Garden. The Celtics will look a lot different than the last time these two teams squared off, and both will be dealing with a few injuries for the Friday night clash in Gotham.

The last time the Celtics and the Knicks met, New York was putting the finishing touches on a six-game win in the Eastern Conference Semifinals with a 119-81 thumping of Boston on the MSG floor. While the Knicks advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals, where they lost to the Indiana Pacers, Boston's loss ushered in an offseason of change for the Green.

The Celtics will look much different Friday night than they did in May, and not having Jayson Tatum is only part of it. Jrue Holiday, Kristaps Porzingis, Al, Horford, and Luke Kornet are gone, leaving Jaylen Brown, Derrick White, and Payton Pritchard to lead the way as the Boston's main holdovers. 

Newcomer Anfernee Simons will look to provide some scoring pop after he had 13 points off 5-for-10 shooting in his Boston debut. He'll likely come off the Celtics' bench for the second straight game, though head coach Joe Mazzulla has said he might send out 82 different lineups this season -- and is wild enough to follow through on that proclamation.

The Knicks are mostly the same as they were when they ousted the Celtics, though there's a new leader on the bench in head coach Mike Brown. He replaced Tom Thibodeau, who was fired after losing to the Pacers. Thibodeau recently attended a Celtics practice in Brighton, and had a nice chat with Jaylen Brown about New York's defense against him last postseason.

The Knicks won their season opener Wednesday night with a 119-111 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers in New York. OG Anunoby led the way with 24 points and 14 rebounds, Jalen Brunson scored 23 despite shooting 1-for-9 from three, and Karl-Anthony Towns had 19 points and 11 boards after his status was up in the air for most of the day.

The Celtics collapsed late and let their opener get away Wednesday night, and started the season with a 117-116 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers. Brown and White led the charge with 25 points apiece, but the Celtics were outscored 42-30 in the fourth quarter and blew a nine point lead with just over three minutes to play. 

Revenge will obviously be on Celtics' mind Friday night after the Knicks ended their bid at a repeat over the summer. The Knicks will be looking to get off to a good start against their Atlantic Division foe, after going 1-8 against Boston over the last two regular seasons.

Jaylen Brown, Birthday Boy

Friday's a big day for Brown. Not only is it his 29th birthday, it's also officially "Jaylen Brown Day" in the city of Boston, as the Celtics star is being honored for all his work in the Boston community. 

Brown is the top dog in Boston without Tatum, and has averaged 19.4 points and 5.2 rebounds over 31 career games against the Knicks. He averaged 21.3 points off 40.4% shooting, 6.7 rebounds, and 5.2 assists last postseason against New York.

Celtics, Knicks injuries for Friday night

Boston has very little frontcourt depth as it is, and the Celtics won't have reserve center Luka Garza for Friday night's game. He's in concussion protocol after colliding with Philadelphia's Adem Bona in the first half Wednesday night, and has already been ruled out against the Knicks.

That will leave Neemias Queta and Xavier Tillman to handle Boston's duties down low. Queta had an excellent game Wednesday night with 17 points and eight rebounds before he fouled out late. Tillman shot just 2-for-8 from the floor to finish with four points over 16 minutes, and missed a putback on a Brown miss with 26.7 seconds left when the Celtics trailed, 113-111. 

The Knicks will also be a little shorthanded in their frontcourt, with center Mitchell Robinson already ruled out for "left ankle injury management." He also missed Wednesday's opener, as did Josh Hart, who is questionable for Friday night's game with a lower back injury. 

Towns is also questionable with a right quad strain, the same injury that almost kept him out of opening night.

Where to watch Celtics-Knicks on Friday night

Friday night's game will be broadcast on Amazon Prime and tip off the company's new NBA coverage. The game is set for 7:30 p.m. with Ian Eagle and Stan Van Gundy on the call.