Knicks All-Star center Karl-Anthony Towns was a full participant in practice at the team’s Tarrytown training facility on Sunday and is expected to play through a finger injury in Game 4 against the Boston Celtics on Monday.
“He’s fine. It’s the playoffs, man. Everyone’s banged up,” said starting forward Josh Hart. “Everyone’s got nicks and bruises. We’ve gotta play through it.”
The ESPN broadcast of Game 3 between the Knicks and Celtics caught Towns pointing to the bandaged ring finger on his left hand and mouthing the words “it’s broken” to someone on the sidelines after a drive to the rim in the second quarter of Saturday’s blowout loss.
The sweet-shooting big man in his first year with the Knicks was tight-lipped about the status of his injury after the game and declined to confirm whether or not he’d undergone an X-ray.
“It is what it is,” Towns said. “I just want to do whatever I can to be out there.”
Towns joins a number of players on both teams battling injuries in the second round of the playoffs. Celtics star Kristaps Porzingis is playing through a viral illness that limited him in Games 1 and 2 of the series, and Boston is without sharpshooter Sam Hauser, who sprained his ankle in Game 1 of the series. Several Knicks players are also playing through injuries in the second round.
“That’s why you do it the entire season,” head coach Tom Thibodeau said after Saturday’s loss. “No one’s playing 100 percent. You have to understand that you can play well when you’re feeling less than your best, that’s all part of it. I think the mental toughness part of this in the playoffs is huge.”
Towns suffered a similar injury, but to his right thumb, in a Jan. 13 matchup against the Detroit Pistons. He played through the discomfort with a noticeable dip in his three-point efficiency, converting on just five of his next 25 attempts from deep.
“Yeah. It’s the playoff time. I can’t count on one hand the injuries that I’m dealing with,” said Hart. “It’s playoff time. It’s the same for everybody. It’s the same for them, too. So we’ve gotta figure out how to go out there and execute.”
Towns averaged 24.4 points and 12.8 rebounds per game through the regular season. He averaged 19.7 points and 10 rebounds in the first round against the Detroit Pistons and is averaging 18.7 points and 15 rebounds through the first three games of the second-round series against the Celtics. He finished with 21 points and 15 rebounds in the Game 3 loss but shot 5-of-18 from the field and 1-of-5 from downtown.
“I’m going to keep finding ways to play,” Towns said. “So I’m not tripping.”
