The Knicks need to get Karl-Anthony Towns more touches
As New York heads to Detroit evened at one game apiece for Games 3 and 4 of their first-round playoff series against the No. 6-seeded Pistons, a troubling pattern has emerged for a stagnant offense: The lack of offensive opportunities for the Knicks’ All-Star center.
After scoring 23 points on 71.4 percent shooting in New York’s 123-112 victory in Game 1, Towns posted a quiet performance in Game 2’s loss: just 10 points on 5-of-11 shooting from the field, including no shot attempts in the entire fourth quarter
Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau said after Monday’s loss Towns did a good job of not forcing the action against double teams in Game 2. He doubled down on that sentiment after team practice at the Tarrytown training facility on Wednesday.`
“If they’re going to commit to two or three people on him, I don’t want him forcing shots,” Thibodeau told reporters on Wednesday. “But there’s things that he can do and we can do to get him a second and third look, so that’s what we have to try to do.”
Towns explained his lack of shot attempts after the loss by merely executing the game plan the team put together. After practice on Wednesday, the All-Star big man said he is comfortable making decisions against different defensive looks.
“I just [have to] be aggressive when I get the chance to make a play,” he said. “I’ve been double teamed, triple teamed most of my career, so I feel like I can do a pretty good job. I’m comfortable with that situation happening.”
The numbers are glaring.
Towns, who averaged 24.4 points and 14.4 rebounds on better than 50 percent shooting from the field and 40 percent shooting from downtown, is fourth in the pecking order behind Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart and OG Anunoby in both overall touches and front-court touches through the first two games of the series.
Towns touched the ball 36 times in the 33 minutes he played in Game 2. For context, Brunson touched the ball 104 times, Hart 71 times, Bridges 68 times and Anunoby 68 times. At the center position elsewhere, Nikola Jokic averaged 112.5 touches at Denver’s MVP point-center, Houston’s Alperen Sengun has averaged 74 touches through two games, Miami’s Bam Adebayo is averaging 66 touches, and Oklahoma City’s Isaiah Hartenstein is averaging 28.5 front-court touches, two more than Towns despite playing 13 fewer minutes per game in the playoffs.
Towns has also seen extended run alongside Mitchell Robinson as part of a Knicks unit prioritizing size and interior presence. In 15 minutes across two games, the Towns-Robinson pairing has barely broken even on the scoreboard in its time on the floor.
“There’s been some good, some that we could do better. The rebounding part of it has been good,” said Thibodeau. “But also you gotta look at the matchups, who do they have on the floor and what are you vulnerable to? And so there’s times it’s been going good.”
The Knicks still had an opportunity to win Monday’s Game 2 despite the low-scoring game from their All-Star center. Bridges missed an open look at a three that could have tied the game at 97, and Brunson missed a three on the following possession, a shot that would have made it a one point game with seconds left in regulation.
“When you look at it in totality, the game is 97-94 and Mikal has an open three with 11 seconds to go,” Thibodeau said after practice on Wednesday. “He shot it great, it just didn’t go in. It was a great play by Jalen, Mikal did a great job moving without the ball.
“If that shot goes, in we’re probably not talking about all the other stuff. But that’s playoff basketball. What did you learn from the game and how do you reset for the next one?”
Hopefully, the Knicks figured out a way to get Towns the ball. Figuring out a way to keep the Pistons off the glass would help, too.
“It’s a combination of a lot of things. It’s the commitments reading the ball, second third effort, holding your block out,” said Thibodeau. “We’re capable of doing better.”
“Yeah I mean we’ve watched tape. I’ve watched tape myself,” added Towns. “We’ve had two days to fix it and get ourselves right mentally and physically for tomorrow.”
