In the end, KAT got the OK.
After his injury status fluctuated in the hours leading up to the Knicks’ season opener, Karl-Anthony Towns was cleared to play against the Cleveland Cavaliers at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday night.
Towns had been considered a game-time decision due to a right quad strain.
The 7-footer began the day listed as questionable, but his status was downgraded to doubtful on Wednesday’s 1:30 p.m. injury report. An hour later, Towns was upgraded to questionable.
“That’s all medical,” head coach Mike Brown said. “I just listen to what they have to say.”
Towns was officially deemed active and named a starter a half-hour before the 7 p.m. tip-off.
OG Anunoby, whom Brown had also described as a game-time decision, was active, too, despite a left ankle sprain. They started alongside Jalen Brunson, Mikal Bridges and second-year center Ariel Hukporti.
The availability of Towns and Anunoby gave a boost to a Knicks team that was without two key players in guard Josh Hart (lumbar spasms) and center Mitchell Robinson (left ankle injury management).
“As a head coach, you want all your guys all the time. You want to be greedy in that regard,” Brown said before Wednesday’s game.
“But also, it’s a part of the game and that’s why you have, in our case 17 guys right now, but 18 guys. Starting with me, I’m a big ‘next man up, next player up.’ It doesn’t matter how many people are out. You hope it’s not a ton, but that’s what all of these guys get paid to do. They get paid to be ready to play, and if their number’s called, they’ve got to go out and perform.”
The Cavaliers, meanwhile, were without guards Darius Garland and Max Strus, who are both recovering from offseason foot surgeries, and forward De’Andre Hunter due to a knee contusion.
Towns averaged 24.4 points and 12.8 rebounds per game over 72 appearances last season, his first with the Knicks. He also started all 18 of the Knicks’ playoff games, despite dealing with knee and finger injuries during the postseason.
The 29-year-old Towns played in each of the Knicks’ first three preseason games this month before sitting out of the final two.
Asked this week about how he fits in the newly hired Brown’s offense, Towns said, “Honestly, I don’t know, but we’re figuring it out.”
“Just doing our best to make the system work for us,” Towns said. “And that’s really all we should be focused on everyday.”
