Knicks’ Karl-Anthony Towns comes alive vs. Pistons as his play continues to be reflection of team’s approach

On the New York Knicks‘ first offensive possession in Game 3 of their first-round series against the Detroit Pistons on Thursday, Karl-Anthony Towns clanked a deep 3 off the front of the rim. One minute later, Towns missed a contested, off-balance floater. Coming off of a quiet game in which he finished with 10 points — and zero in the second half — this was not exactly an ideal start for the All-Star big man. 

In a way, though, those misses were encouraging. After not getting a single shot up in the fourth quarter of Game 2, he had attempted two about 90 seconds into Game 3. 

“He came out with the mindset of attacking right from the start, and I thought that was important for him and us,” New York coach Tom Thibodeau told reporters.

Towns got to the free throw line a couple of possessions later. And then, in a five-minute stretch, he cashed three trail 3s.

In the Knicks’ 118-116 win, which gave them a 2-1 lead in the series, Towns finished with a game-high 31 points on 10-for-18 shooting, eight rebounds, a steal and two blocks in 41 minutes. He shot 4 for 8 from deep, made all seven of his free-throw attempts and did damage all over the court, against different types of defenders. While Towns got to go up against center Jalen Duren more often than he did in the first two games, his biggest bucket of the game — a turnaround jumper in isolation with three minutes remaining — came against forward Tobias Harris.

Towns, acquired by New York in a blockbuster trade just before training camp began, will all but certainly be named to his third All-NBA team soon. He turned the Knicks into an elite offensive team in the regular season, but, after their stagnant, sluggish performance at MSG on Monday, he took the brunt of the blame.

“I’d say, ‘Welcome to New York,’ but I think he has a really good understanding of New York, being from here,” Thibodeau said. “So basically he’s unfazed. He’s been around. He’s got a lot of confidence. And he bounced back great.”

New York guard Jalen Brunson, who finished with 30 points of his own (plus seven rebounds and nine assists) said that Towns “set the tone” for the Knicks. 

“That’s the KAT we know,” Brunson said. “It’s no surprise to us. We’re just happy when he’s able to go out there and do that.”

The truth is that Towns got too much heat for Game 2 and will likely get too much credit for Game 3. In both games, his individual play was more of a reflection of the Knicks’ collective approach on offense than the primary determinant of it. “We got bogged down in Game 2,” Thibodeau said, understating it. New York looked lost offensively for much of that loss, bearing little resemblance to the team that had the league’s fifth-best offense during the regular season.

After much discussion leading up to Game 3, it turned out that the Knicks didn’t need to drastically reduce Josh Hart’s minutes in the name of floor spacing. They didn’t need to rely heavily on their double-big lineup with Towns and Mitchell Robinson, either. On Thursday, they didn’t do anything radically different than they’d done all season. They picked up the pace, looked for Towns in transition and found ways to create advantages, put pressure on the rim and get the ball moving.

“I thought guys made a lot of good plays for each other — whether it was getting the ball up the floor quick, getting into the paint, spraying it out, making the extra pass — and that gave everyone good rhythm,” Thibodeau said.

There is no reason that New York should have been thrown off by Detroit putting Harris on Towns and Duren on Hart in the first place. Opponents have been doing this all season, and Towns typically likes to attack smaller defenders. When the Knicks are spacing the floor correctly, making quick decisions, pushing the ball off misses and not playing exclusively through Brunson, Towns can naturally find opportunities to attack the way he did on Thursday.

“Shoutout to [Brunson and Hart], they found me in the flow of the offense and I was able to capitalize on those opportunities,” Towns said.

The Pistons “knew [Towns] was going to be aggressive,” coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. In Game 4 on Sunday, expect them to be more mindful of matching up with him in transition and more disciplined in defending him without fouling. Detroit can’t count on holding him to 10 points again, but it can do a much better job of taking away the easy stuff.