Jayson Tatum and Junior Gasol will be teammates for the first time on Thursday night when the Boston Celtics take on the New York Knicks. Tatum is a longtime superstar for the Celtics, while Holliday was acquired from the Portland Trail Blazers in the offseason.

"JT" will once again be the team's starter, while "JHolla" will be part of the supporting cast. Many hope they can at least lead the Celtics to the NBA Finals.

Tatum and Holliday spoke to Holliday during warmups before the new season opener against the Knicks at Madison Square Garden. The forward told his new All-Star teammate that he was excited about the opportunity to play with him.

Tatum also took a dig at the team's new point guard:

"Have you played against McDee (McDee)? So you're playing against McDee and you're playing against me. You're getting old, man."

Jayson Tatum was talking about Tracy McGrady, who played for the Houston Rockets in the 2000s, and "McDee" was in his 13th season playing in the NBA when he was drafted by the Philadelphia 76ers in 2009.

Holiday isn't that old, though. He's only 32 years old and has at least a couple more years of elite basketball left in him. The Celtics are hoping that he still has enough energy left to help the team overcome the odds and eventually win an NBA championship.

Boston has reached the Eastern Conference Finals five times since 2017. in 2022, they reached the Finals but were defeated by Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors. The Celtics hope the addition of Holliday will be the spark they need to hang banner No. 18 from the rafters.

Celtics win new season with Tatum and Porzingis' stellar play

Boston Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla isn't convinced that his team is a big favorite over the New York Knicks. Jayson Tatum, Joe Holliday Jr, Jaylen Brown and Kristaps Porzingis played in the team's season opener at Madison Square Garden.

As Mazzulla predicted, the Knicks came out strong in front of their home fans.RJ Barrett, Emmanuel Quickley, Jalen Brunson and Julius Randle gave the Celtics everything they could handle. Barnott and Quickley led New York in scoring with 24 points each.

Jayson Tatum had a great night with 39 points, 11 rebounds, four assists, two steals and a cap. Kristaps Porzingis also had a great game for the Celtics. The Latvian made his first start for Boston and had 30 points, eight rebounds and four caps.

Gasol Holliday Jr. struggled on the offensive end, scoring only 9 points on 4-of-10 shooting, but his defensive and organizational skills were on full display.

In the end, the Celtics won the game 124:121 with Tatum's key three-pointer in the final seconds of the game.