New York Knicks All-Star starter Karl-Anthony Towns has a great chance to outshine all of his peers on Sunday night.
Knicks: Karl-Anthony Towns could erupt in ASG
Towns is starting in the All-Star Game for the first time across his five career appearances. The Kentucky product has a history of big performances off the bench that give precedent for him taking the reigns in an amplified position this time around.
The New Jersey native had 17 points and 10 rebounds in his debut All-Star Game in 2017-18. That was across 18 minutes of play. Towns then went in his bag and dropped 50 points and eight rebounds in last year’s festivity. He had the green light last time around, taking 35 shots in the game.
Pros & cons of new format for Towns in ASG
This year, the All-Star Game will feature three teams, selected by Inside the NBA’s Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith, and Shaquille O’Neal.
The positive to this is that Towns will likely see more individual court time. The downside is that his team is big-man-oriented. The Knicks’ vanguard will have to play alongside reigning NBA MVP Nikola Jokic, as well as Alperen Sengun, Victor Wembanyama, and Pascal Siakam.
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Nevertheless, given his status as a starter, he’ll get more time. Towns’ elevated level of confidence that he’s put on display this season is likely to carry over to Sunday night’s affair. It is well within reason to envision the former 2015 No. 1 overall pick being aggressive from three-point range and putting on a dunk fest. Towns’ playmaking may also be seen like never before for Team Chuck, which could set his potentially high-scoring effort apart from other stars gunning for the MVP.
