New York Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns has been outstanding in his first season as a Knick. He’s averaging 24.3 points while being tied for the league lead in rebounding at 13.5. His first season in The Mecca has been better than advertised, and he is a key part of their 21-10 start to the season.
Knicks’ Karl-Anthony Towns has had trouble limiting fouls
However, personal fouls continue to limit his effectiveness, particularly early in games and down the stretch of games. On Friday against the Magic, Towns played just two minutes in the third quarter after racking up four fouls early on.
It was a similar story on Christmas Day against the San Antonio Spurs, as he played just three minutes in the fourth quarter after collecting five personal fouls. Luckily for the Knicks, Precious Achiuwa was able to hold down the fort in his place and help them secure a thrilling victory over San Antonio.
Towns has been dominant in many areas this season, but the fouls continue to haunt him. He leads the NBA in personal fouls with 105 this season, which is an average of 3.6 personal fouls per game.
Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau knows that the foul troubles are going to need to be worked on in order to get the most out of him.
“There’s good aggressive fouls and there’s fouls that are obviously cheap that you have to clean up,” Thibodeau said, via the New York Post’s Stefan Bondy. “I think that’s the important thing for him to understand — the difference between the two and how it’s being called.”
The Knicks need Towns on the floor as much as possible
Centers tend to rack up many fouls thanks to their size and physicality underneath the rim. Towns is no stranger to that, as he has been playing with a different type of aggression on both ends of the floor this season.
While that aggression is always welcome, it can’t become reckless. Towns sitting for long stretches of time hurts the Knicks’ offense, as they have a 121.3 offensive rating with him on the court versus a 113.0 offensive rating with him off the court.
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Additionally, with Mitchell Robinson still out, the Knicks have been relying on Towns more to provide an impact all-around. Currently, Towns is the only player who is at least seven feet tall in the Knicks’ rotation, so they badly need him for his size as much as possible.
Despite all of that, the Knicks have still found ways to win. They have won six games in a row and 16 of their last 20, and are only two games behind the Boston Celtics for second in the Eastern Conference. Regardless, they will still want to limit the foul trouble for Towns as much as possible, as it will keep him on the floor longer.
