INDIANAPOLIS — Karl-Anthony Towns is holding his knee. He’s on the ground, and so are the Knicks’ championship odds.
It’s Game 4 of the Knicks’ Eastern Conference Finals matchup against the Pacers at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Tuesday, and Towns just bumped knees with Indiana’s Aaron Nesmith. He falls to the ground, grabs at his knee, rolls to his side then slaps the hardwood floor. Tom Thibodeau calls a timeout, and trainers help Towns to the bench. After moments hunched over, seated with his team down big late, Towns rises to his feet, limps to the scorer’s table and checks back into a game the Knicks ultimately on to lose.
Towns then limps off the floor to the locker room, limps from the locker room to the podium, then walks gingerly out of the Gainbridge Fieldhouse, his status questionable for a win-or-go-home Game 5 back at Madison Square Garden with his team facing a 3-1 series deficit.
There was no question for Towns. He was always going to show up when his team needed him most. And he gave his team everything it needed to avoid elimination and force Game 6 back in Indiana: 24 points, 13 rebounds, 50% shooting from the field, including a dominant second quarter that helped New York set the tone early in a series they’ve struggled out the gate.
“I looked at the game and it said Game 5 do or die. That was pretty much all I needed to see,” Towns said. “Shoutout to our medical staff. They gave me a chance to go out there and compete tonight. I’m glad I was able to put a lot of hours in trying to get myself ready if I got the chance. God was good, and I was able to go out there and play.”
This is the version of Towns fans were unsure they would ever see. After all, the NBA is a reputation league, and reputations tend to be formed on narratives. The narrative around Towns preceding his arrival in New York found its roots in a photo of him cringing while attacking a stone-faced DeMarcus Cousins in a moment that quickly became a viral meme for the wrong reasons.
Yet Towns has proven, one moment at a time, that reputation, that narrative is a bunch of nonsense. He is not only one of the NBA’s most gifted offensive centers. He is not only one of the greatest three-point shooting big men in the history of the game. Towns is tough — tougher than he’s been given credit for. And that toughness won the Knicks a playoff game. It could win them a series they trailed 0-2 and 3-1.
“I knew that he was a player that was gonna help us win. He’s helped us get to this point and so I think no matter what the situation is, he’s gonna continue to do that,” Knicks captain Jalen Brunson said ahead of tipoff in Game 6 on Saturday. “There are narratives portrayed on players on other teams, and then when you get to the team, you’re like, ‘Oh that guy’s not really like that.’ But that’s how narratives work. They’re usually probably false. So I have the utmost respect for him and the way he’s been able to play through this entire season and playoffs. We’re all banged up but we’re gonna push through, but I had faith he was gonna play last game.”
Towns entered Game 6 against the Pacers averaging 25.6 points per game on 51.8% shooting from the field and 42.3% shooting from three-point range in the conference finals. His scoring increased five points from the first two rounds of the playoffs, where he averaged just under 20 points per game against both the Detroit Pistons and Boston Celtics. Towns played through a hand injury in Rounds 1 and 2. He played one of his best games of the playoffs with the season on the line at The Garden on Thursday — and it wasn’t a given he’d be able to suit up and play until 30 minutes ahead of tipoff in Game 5.
“He was huge for us. He got to his spots. He was aggressive offensively and I think that helped him a little bit defensively,” said Josh Hart. “We know he’s a mismatch nightmare offensively. He’s someone that can get into that paint, someone that can post, drive, play off the catch, knock down shots. He has a huge arsenal offensively and we need him to be aggressive and we need that aggression to bleed into the defensive end, and him helping on defense.”
It’s become clear through his first season in New York. Towns might be a bit unorthodox. He might not be your traditional NBA center or boast a typical basketball persona.
But he’s reliable. He’s a bucket. And he’s tougher than he’d been given credit. And toughness is exactly what the doctor ordered for a Knicks team with its back against the wall.
