MILWAUKEE — Karl-Anthony Towns has the ball at the top of the key. Nine minutes remain in the first quarter of the Knicks’ matchup against the Bucks — a game Towns would ultimately shoulder the blame for after New York blew a 14-point second-half lead in an eventual 10-point loss.
The All-Star scoring big man attacks. He blows by Bucks center Myles Turner, plants two feet in the paint, then kicks the ball out to OG Anunoby. One more swing finds Landry Shamet for an uncontested layup.
Mike Brown approves.
It’s the kind of sequence the first-year Knicks head coach wants to see: the ball touching the paint, the defense collapsing, and his play-makers making the right read — a “spray” to the perimeter for either an open shot or a quick snap-drive to the rim.
It’s a read Towns makes repeatedly — the kind that rarely shows up on a stat sheet, the hockey assists that drive Brown’s offense. Two possessions later, he catches the ball on the right wing, pump-fakes to draw Giannis Antetokounmpo in, then attacks the gap. Two strides, two feet in the paint, and another dart to the perimeter — this one to Mikal Bridges, who misses a clean look from the top of the key.
Brown calls Towns’ first half “remarkable.” On paper, it was anything but. A perennial All-Star known best for his scoring touch tallied just one attempted field goal in the first half, none in the first quarter. That same player averaged 24.4 points per game last season on 17 shot attempts a night.
Then comes the third period — and with it, the ego of a gifted scorer being asked, like every Knick under Brown, to put the good of the team above individual numbers. Instead of continued sacrifice, he does the opposite.
Towns fires nine shots in the third period. Only one drops. And with every miss, the Bucks creep closer, the Fiserv Forum bubbles, and possession by possession, Milwaukee seizes control — stealing the momentum and, ultimately, the game — as New York stumbles to a second straight loss after the fizz-out in Miami.
Towns finishes with one of the worst games of his career and certainly his worst since joining the Knicks: eight points on 2-of-12 shooting with 12 rebounds and five fouls.
And with his poor performance come questions about his fit in Brown’s system. Because when a scorer goes too long without eating, hunger turns to impulse — and impulse turns to shots that feed no one.
“[KAT’s] first half was beautiful. He played the right way. And that’s all you can ask your All-Star guys to do,” Brown says. “If you’ve got an All-Star, and they’re taking him out with a second guy [double team], believe in your teammates, believe in the process. When those guys make plays, eventually they won’t double as much, and you’ll get it back.”
NOT ACCORDING TO PLAN
This isn’t how it’s supposed to go. Not for a player this skilled, not for a coach hired to unlock him.
A new coach was supposed to amplify Towns’ gifts — to marry one of basketball’s most versatile bigs with an offense built on space, pace, and flow. Yet through four games, the fit still feels clunky. Towns said as much in training camp, openly unsure how his game would translate in Brown’s pace-and-space system. The irony? Speed and spacing should accentuate his strengths. Instead, they’ve underscored his hesitations.
The numbers reflect it. After Tuesday’s loss in Milwaukee, Towns is averaging just 17 points on 35 percent shooting from the field and 33 percent from three.
For a player with such a resume, stretches without meaningful involvement can make even the most selfless scorer restless.
“I’ve got a new role. I just have to embrace it, and I didn’t do that for 48 minutes tonight. It hurts,” he said quietly at his locker after the loss. “It’s gonna be a tough car ride. It’s gonna be a tough two days to live with that, but I’ve had tough days before. Just mark this up into the same category. But it’s only Game 4.”
Still, the pattern is familiar — and troubling. It’s the same issue that lingered under Tom Thibodeau and, ultimately, led to change: the inability to fully weaponize an elite offensive big.
“I talk to him. We talk and it’s a process for all of us,” team captain Jalen Brunson said after the loss. “There are gonna be times where things aren’t going one of our ways, and it’s on us as teammates to have his back, but we’re still learning and all of it is brand new for us. We’re not gonna use the excuse for a long time, but for these first couple weeks, it’s still fresh for us.”
Last season, Towns averaged nearly 60 touches per game. Under Brown, that number’s down — both in total touches and time of possession.
Brown insists it’s temporary. He believes Towns’ scoring will come naturally if he keeps trusting the system, if he keeps making the right reads, keeps the ball moving, and resists the urge to force.
“We want the ball to move. We want the floor spaced the right way,” Brown said. “And I promise you, if we do the things we’re talking about offensively — the staples — KAT’s gonna be more than fine. But we’ve all gotta play with more pace. I’ve talked to KAT about it. If you don’t play with pace in certain areas, you’ll get denied, pushed out, and now you’re catching it way out on the floor.”
Towns isn’t putting himself ahead of the program.
“I gotta do whatever’s needed to win, and [in the] first half I played how we needed me to play,” he said. “And the game, I felt, switched up, and I tried to get going just in case we needed me, and I just didn’t make a shot. So I pressed a little bit too much today. I have more experience than to do that, but I didn’t do what we needed me to do tonight, and that’s on me, and I take full responsibility.
“Accountability is something big in this locker room and I will always do that.”
GOTTA FIGURE IT OUT
It’s a problem the Knicks have to solve. Why invest so heavily in Towns if not to unleash the full scope of his skill set? He might not be the fastest or most agile big in the league — or on the roster — but his gifts are undeniable.
Still, after Tuesday’s loss, it’s Bucks forward Kyle Kuzma who gets the last laugh. Kuzma spends much of his minutes matched up with Towns and knows the assignment well.
“I think I’ve been in the league long enough and have played against Towns long enough to kind of understand what he wants and what he wants to do,” Kuzma said after Milwaukee’s win. “So being out there and just being physical, putting my body on him — a lot of times, when you’re playing guys that are physical, they don’t want you to be physical. Just bringing that attitude and mentality probably frustrated him a little bit.”
Rest assured Kuzma is the last thing on Towns’ mind. Rhythm and role are a different story — a role that’s supposed to elevate his game, but through four contests, still feels like a work in progress.
“KAT was the one that got us started,” said Brown. “KAT’s first couple plays, he caught that thing, made a quick decision, touched the paint, and started the dominos. He sprayed the ball and got guys wide-open looks. It all started with KAT. KAT played a remarkable first half offensively. Sometimes it doesn’t show up in your field goal attempts when you play a remarkable game. He had one field goal attempt because that’s the way they were playing him.”
Towns believes he’ll figure it out — and so does his coach. It’s only Game 4, and because he toggles between the four and five, Brown expects him to master every position on the floor. In this offense, the four is interchangeable with the guards.
“[It’s a] different system than we all have played recently, so we’re all finding our spots and finding where we can be the most effective,” Towns said. “I’m learning — even at 11 years, I’m learning something new. You can teach an old dog new tricks, and I’m learning new tricks.”
Town’s old tricks have served him well. They helped not one, but two separate teams to conference finals appearances in back-to-back seasons.
These Knicks aren’t aiming to repeat history. They’re chasing the gold trophy that’s eluded the franchise for more than 50 years.
To get there, it will take sacrifice across the board — and the Knicks finding ways to unlock their All-Star big before he tries to do it himself.
“We all want to win. We’re just doing things to help each other win,” Towns said. “That’s what got us to where we were last year. That mindset has done us well. It’s just today, sometimes when you’re trying to win, you start doing too much, and I take responsibility.
“I thought I did a little too much midway through the third. I was trying too hard to win the game. I just have to have that belief, that trust that things will work out — and I didn’t do my part. I’ve gotta live with that.”
