The New York Knicks recently stumbled out of the gates in their title defense, losing at home to the Philadelphia 76ers in narrow fashion. The Knicks will next hit the road to take on the Boston Celtics on Friday evening as they look to get into the win column for the first time this year.

This game will pit the Knicks against their former big man, Mitchell Robinson, who departed the team for Boston in free agency this summer after helping them win a title last year.

Now, Knicks head coach Mike Brown has given his blunt take on facing his former big man.

“We wanna kick his ass, like he probably wants to kick ours,” he said, per SNY Knicks on X, formerly Twitter.

While most fans anticipated that Robinson would be heading out the door this summer after it was revealed that owner James Dolan was unwilling to dip into the second apron, they were still upset when he announced he would be taking his talents to the rival Celtics, whom New York beat in the playoffs two years ago.

Funnily enough, Robinson's replacement, Andre Drummond, was one of the most effective Knicks players in Tuesday's loss to Philadelphia, recording a double-double in the first half alone and quickly ingratiating himself with the Madison Square Garden crowd.

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It will certainly be interesting to see if Robinson plays with any noticeable chip on his shoulder on Friday against his former team, as he too will be looking to make amends after a tough performance in Boston's season-opening loss to the Detroit Pistons.

In any case, the Knicks and Celtics are slated to tip off on Friday at 7:00 pm ET from Boston.