New York @ Oklahoma City preview

Last Meeting ( Feb 15, 2017 ) New York 105, Oklahoma City 116

Carmelo Anthony won't have to wait long to get a crack at his old team as the Oklahoma City Thunder host the New York Knicks in the season opener for both clubs on Thursday. The Thunder made arguably the biggest splashes of the offseason by bringing in All-Stars Anthony and Paul George to pair with reigning NBA MVP Russell Westbrook.

Westbrook was a one-man wrecking crew in 2016-17, becoming the first player since Oscar Robertson to average a triple-double over the course of the season (31.6 points, 10.7 rebounds, 10.4 assists), but the individual success still led to a first-round playoff exit. Oklahoma City wasted little time over the summer jumping into the Western Conference arms race and nabbed a pair of stars disgruntled with their former situations in George and Anthony, leaving the biggest question as how many shots does each player need to stay happy. The Knicks, who brought back center Enes Kanter, swingman Doug McDermott and a draft pick in that Anthony deal, finally committed to a youth movement centered around 22-year-old Latvian Kristaps Porzingis, who is ready to lead the team after averaging 18.1 points last season in Anthony's shadow. "For myself, I wanted him to stay [in New York], and to play with him and learn from him and so on," Porzingis told reporters of Anthony. "But from the other side, I understand that he needed a new challenge in his career and he wants to win a championship one day, so I'm happy for him. He's in an environment where he might be able to do that soon."

TV: 8 p.m. ET, TNT

ABOUT THE KNICKS (2016-17: 31-51): Point guard Derrick Rose is gone from last season's squad as well, opening up a starting spot for 19-year-old Belgian rookie Frank Ntilikina, who has been impressing coaches and teammates in camp. "Usually for a young kid like that, you've got to spend a lot of time explaining plays, explaining NBA sets. You're not able to go to all the little tricks and all those things for a while," New York coach Jeff Hornacek told ESPN.com. "With Frank, you can talk about them already. So that's great." Joining Ntilikina in the backcourt is shooting guard Tim Hardaway Jr., who signed a $71 million deal with the team after averaging 14.5 points for the Atlanta Hawks last season.

ABOUT THE THUNDER (2016-17: 47-35): Oklahoma City coach Billy Donovan's biggest headache might be who to give the ball to with the game winding down, but so far he doesn't seem worried. "Carmelo's been a closeout guy the places he's been, the same thing with Paul. But any time you have a team you have to do it by finding the open man," Donovan told reporters. "Clearly for us last year, somebody creating and generating a shot for himself or someone else, it was Russell. But obviously now with Carmelo and Paul being here, I think it's about making the right play and right decision." Westbrook averaged a league-high 24 field-goal attempts last season while Anthony hoisted 18.8 shots and George put up 18 for the Indiana Pacers.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Ntilikina (knee) and Porzingis (hip) are both expected to play Thursday.

2. Kanter was third on the Thunder in scoring at 14.3 points last season despite coming off the bench in each of his 72 games.

3. Anthony is expected to start at PF with George at SF and C Steven Adams rounding out the front court for Oklahoma City.

PREDICTION: Thunder 125, Knicks 103