Karl-Anthony Towns feels strongly about his New York Knicks after downing the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday.
The Knicks handed the shorthanded Suns a 138-122 blowout loss on their way to their fourth straight win. Towns (34 points) and his fellow All-Star teammate Jalen Brunson (36 points) combined for a 70 piece on the affair.
Karl-Anthony Towns believes the Knicks showed traits of a great team in the win over the Suns
While it was another megalithic performance for the Kentucky product on the stat sheet, he was particularly impressed with the way the team looked, and what that means for their trajectory moving forward. Per New York Basketball, Towns had this to say to MSG play-by-play commentator Mike Breen after the victory:
“There’s a certain standard with being a great team, and I think that every day right now, we are getting closer and closer to that standard. And I think that every great team, as you know, it’s about consistency,” Towns said.
The Knicks’ offense clicked on all cylinders in Phoenix
New York had six players score in double figures in the game. All five of their starters, and seven of the nine players who took the floor all shot 50 percent or greater from the field.
Encouragingly, the Knicks got good bench production from Cam Payne (12 points, three assists) and Jericho Sims (four points, six rebounds) without Miles McBride. Their league-worst bench scoring unit did enough to supplement the starters though much more is still needed from them to truly reach their championship-caliber apex.
Knicks never trailed as Towns & co. silenced Suns
Towns was particularly pleased with the way that the Knicks gained and protected their lead, as he also told Breen. Brunson struck first blood with a 28-foot triple to put the Knicks up 3-0 to start the game, and New York never trailed after that. The Suns kept it competitive after the first quarter, keeping the scoring margin at two points or less in each of the remaining three quarters. No matter, Towns went 4-8 from the field in the fourth, Mikal Bridges went 2-4 and Josh Hart went a perfect 3-3 to silence the Suns.
The Knicks started strong, finished with an emphasis, and continued building upon the successful ways they’ve enjoyed of late. This was also New York’s second straight game with 130-plus points, the first time they’ve done so in 36 years, per ESPN. They will now look to push the league’s second-longest active winning streak to five consecutive victories when they take on the struggling Utah Jazz (3-11) on Saturday evening.