All-Star Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns said he’s not concerned with how many shots or touches he’s getting in a game.
“I’m about wins, so as long as we win then everything is fine,” Towns said after practice at the Knicks’ Tarrytown training facility on Saturday.
Towns only attempted 10 shots for 10 points in the Knicks’ close-out Game 6 against the Detroit Pistons on Thursday. He shot 5-of-14 for 17 points in the Knicks’ Game 5 loss and 5-of-11 for just 10 points in Game 2, another loss.
The lack of shots for a player with Towns’ resume — five-time All-Star, 2025 All-Star starter and one of the NBA’s premier three-point shooting big men — is glaring, but the star center said he isn’t concerned with shot distribution or touches.
Towns ranked fourth behind Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart and Mikal Bridges in touches per game in the first round.
“All I know is as long as we win, we’re good,” he said. “I’m going with that.”
Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau said he’s comfortable with Towns’ shot selection and frequency as long as he’s making the right basketball play.
“When there’s a second and third defender coming, I don’t want him to try to shoot over three people. I want him to make a pass,” Thibodeau said after practice on Saturday. “If he does that, he’s helping his team. That’s probably the biggest thing.”
Despite the low-scoring numbers in Game 6, Thibodeau pointed to Towns’ 15 rebounds as a key factor in the closeout victory.
“I thought KAT played a terrific game [in] Game 6,” he said. “If you look at the rebounding and the defensive plays he made at the end of that game. That was huge for us. Huge.”
Thibodeau maintained talented players don’t need to have big scoring nights to make an impact on a game.
“There’s games in which you don’t shoot the ball great, there’s other things you can do to help the team win. Whether you’re screening, same thing with Jalen,” he said. “If there’s three guys on him, I don’t want him to take the tough shots. I want him to hit the open man. That’s what winning basketball is all about.”
Brunson echoed a similar sentiment.
“We can’t let offense or shots falling dictate the way or how hard we play or the things that we can control. So I feel like a lot of people on this team have that mindset, and we’re going to have to,” he said. “Because the longer we go to playoffs, the more difficult games are going to be. So we just can’t let little things like that kind of have an effect on how we’re playing.”
The Knicks traded Julius Randle, Donte DiVincenzo and a first-round pick to the Minnesota Timberwolves to acquire Towns in a blockbuster trade during the offseason. But distribution of both touches and shots for a perennial All-Star center was inconsistent during the regular season, a trend that carried into the first round of the playoffs.
Towns averaged 24.4 points and 12.8 rebounds per game his first season in orange and blue. The Knicks were 3-0 against the Pistons when Towns scored 20 or more points and went 22-12 in games he scored 25 or more during the regular season.
TOWNS A FAN OF OUTDOOR BOXING
Towns was in attendance for the Times Square outdoor fight card featuring Ryan Garcia vs. Rolly Ramirez, Devin Haney vs. Jose Ramirez, and Teofimo Lopez fighting Arnold Barboza Jr. for the WBC junior welterweight title on Friday.
“It was good. I had a good time, see the city have that kind of moment, be in Times Square for an event like that,” Towns said after practice on Saturday. “It was special.”
Towns said if weather permits, the city should host more sporting events outdoors.
“The weather was great. And the city was alive for it, so it was really cool,” he said. “Definitely if it could happen in the city again, I would love to be there.”
TOWNS TALKS KP
Towns said he has a lot of respect for Kristaps Porzingis, the former Knicks first-round pick who he’ll be matched up with in the second round against the Celtics.
Towns and Porzingis were both top-five picks in the 2015 NBA Draft. The Timberwolves selected Towns No. 1 overall while the Knicks took Porzingis at pick No. 4.
“I love Porzingis, man. We came into the league together. We had a bunch of great battles that you all got to watch personally,” said Towns. “Just that competition. We got a lot of respect for each other.”
Towns is looking forward to the matchup.
“It’s always great when you get to go against one of the best bigs in the NBA,” he said. “You get to go out there and compete at the highest level.”
