Jose Alvarado is relishing the chance to play for a team vying for the NBA championship after he made his New York Knicks debut.

Alvarado played 25 minutes and finished with 12 points as he helped the Knicks beat the Boston Celtics 111-89 on Sunday.

The Knicks are 34-19 and sit second in the Eastern Conference.

Alvarado, who was born in Brooklyn, joined the Knicks last week from the New Orleans Pelicans, and he is thrilled to be competing for "something special".

As reported by AFP, Alvarado said: "We're just trying to win games.

"Everyone has welcomed me with open arms. Being on a team that is fighting for the championship is something special.

just having fun with it pic.twitter.com/AGFqgz3MGH

— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) February 8, 2026

"It just feels like it was meant to be. It feels like I’ve been part of it for a while, even though it was the first game. It felt like nothing. It felt like home. It felt like it was supposed to happen this way.

"Obviously, [my team-mates] know my passion is defence, and they trust in me and believe in me, and they let me be myself. They keep saying go out there and be yourself, and everything will go the way we need it to go."

The Knicks bounced back from a damaging defeat to the Detroit Pistons, who lead the East, and coach Mike Brown was thrilled with their response.

"Our group is resilient," Brown said, as reported by the New York Post.

"Sometimes, like in Detroit, that happens. None of us like it. None of us want to go through it. Give Detroit a lot of credit, but we know it’s not who we are.

"We played a lot better than that. We will. But I do think this group is resilient because they've shown time and time again, after tough losses or multiple losses, playing the next game, usually doing a pretty good job of playing again."