After the Knicks’ dominant 128-98 victory over the Pistons, they’ve improved to 3-2 on the season and have started to put an awful Opening Night performance behind them. Karl-Anthony Towns struggled in his first game with the Knicks, but after dropping 44 points in a win over Miami, he had an efficient performance against Detroit despite dealing with a left wrist sprain. His gravity and playmaking have been a game-changer for the Knicks on the offensive end, giving New York plenty of space to operate in the paint while they get acclimated with their three-point shots.
The connection between him and Jalen Brunson is finally starting to click, and while there are still plenty of growing pains to work through, Karl-Anthony Towns has immediately shown the New York faithful why he’s one of the top centers in the sport.
Karl-Anthony Towns Showing All-Star Form With Knicks
The Knicks have been able to generate offense in their non-Jalen Brunson minutes for the first time in ages, as while the offense is heavily catered to his strengths, Karl-Anthony Towns is able to create looks for himself and others. His 21-point performance last night doesn’t seem as dominant as you’d expect from a pure scoring standpoint, but his seven assists and 11 rebounds gave other scorers on the floor good looks and gave the Knicks extra possessions.
One of the biggest advantages to having a center who can shoot is that they draw pressure away from the paint as defenders can’t just hang back knowing only four of the Knicks’ five players on the court can actually pull the trigger from downtown. The Knicks can run plays where Brunson cuts to the basket with KAT on the perimeter since their usual interior defender can’t just leave him open to take an uncontested three-pointer.
These two have formed the star duo the Knicks have needed to assemble in order to compete with the very best teams in the NBA, but their other big addition Mikal Bridges has seen a massive improvement to his shot diet as a result of playing alongside KAT and Brunson.
Instead of carrying the offense on his own as he did in Brooklyn, the attention that KAT and Brunson draw creates high-percentage looks for Bridges, who is able to score off the catch and take advantage of a defense overcommitting. In the third quarter of yesterday’s win, there were two seperate occasions where Karl-Anthony Towns found an open Mikal Bridges in the corner after he drove to the basket and peeled attention away from the two-way wing.
The fluidity of the offense is incredible, there’s always a high-percentage look to be found when this starting lineup clicks, and that’s because they have so much shooting and scoring talent on the floor. Star players have no problem racking up assists when defenders get too aggressive and role players have no hesitation taking advantage of a high-percentage look, it’s a style of basketball that mirrors what the Celtics have done to the league for two years now.
While Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo are both excellent NBA players, they don’t demand the same level of attention at all times that Karl-Anthony Towns does, and we’re seeing this lineup flourish as a result. It’s one of the best starting fives in the league, and while the bench remains a question mark, this group has started to find its mojo after a terrible showing to start the season.
A long season awaits these New York Knicks, but if they’re able to continue creating these high-percentage looks as often as they have, Karl-Anthony Towns might be viewed as the biggest addition they’ve made in half a century.