NEW DELHI — The 2024-25 NBA season will tip off with the 2024 NBA Champions Boston Celtics receiving their championship rings ahead of a high-stakes matchup with the New York Knicks, followed by a generational clash with 17-time NBA winner Los Angeles Lakers taking on the Minnesota Timberwolves on the opening night. The defending NBA champions Celtics have brought back every rotation player from their dominant 2023-24 team which produced the league’s best regular-season record, ranked first in the league in offensive rating and second in defensive rating, and won the franchise’s record 18th title. Three-time All-NBA First Team selection Jayson Tatum and 2024 NBA Finals MVP Jaylen Brown are set to lead the franchise into potentially becoming the first team since the 2018 Golden State Warriors to successfully defend their NBA Championship, and the first Eastern Conference team since Cleveland Cavaliers in 2018 to make back-to-back trips to the NBA Finals. The Knicks are coming off an Eastern Conference Semifinals appearance behind first-time NBA All-Star Jalen Brunson, who earned All-NBA Second Team honours and finished fifth in voting for the NBA MVP Award. The team made massive changes over the offseason, acquiring four-time NBA All-Star Karl-Anthony Towns and guard-forward...