Karl-Anthony Towns came up big for the New York Knicks in the battle for the city.
The big man put forth his undisputable best effort of the season as the Knicks knocked the Nets by a 113-100 final on Monday night at Barclays Center. Towns led all players with 37 points while converting 14-of-20 shots from the field as New York (10-6) secured its second road win of the season and its 12th in a row over its cross-borough rivals.
“He was really good,” said Knicks head coach Mike Brown, per Stefan Bondy of the New York Post. “We tried to move him around quite a bit, tried to have him at the elbow, at the post, in the pick-and-roll game. You could say his comfort level is starting to get there.”
With this Knicks season labeled by many as the team’s best chance to reach the NBA Finals in quite some time, the spotlight on Towns has gotten even brighter. Some viewed the trade to acquire his services from the Minnesota Timberwolves as the proverbial “one move away,” and Towns helped the team reach the conference finals for the first time in a quarter-century last season.
But that wasn’t enough to save his recurring boss, Tom Thibodeau, and not enough to dim the scrutiny, as some wondered how Towns would work out in Brown’s new system. The Knicks’ rediscovered propensity for three-point shooting would be of particular interest to Towns, often regarded as one of the most prolific shooting centers in league history.
Entering Monday’s game, however, Towns was struggling to live up to that bill of an efficent three point shooter.
Given that, the former Timberwolve dominanted Brooklyn by going to the well with that has worked this season. Physicality in the paint.
Against the Nets, Towns bullied his way into the paint to earn his tallies, abandoning the three-point line until the second half. The newfound moderation saw him go 3-of-4 after Brooklyn converged in the interior, helping the Knicks build a lead that reached as high as 19 after the Nets kept things close for a good portion.
“Shooters shoot, of course. I know everybody wants me to shoot the three-ball. But I’m a more complete player than that,” Towns said, per Bondy. “A lot of times, my career shooting the three allows me to get to the basket and opens the game up for myself and my teammates. Tonight was a good night where attacking the paint, getting some layups, tough layups, whatever the case may be, opened the basket up for me and made the three-ball much easier.”
Towns has a prime opportunity to close this month out on a high note: the Knicks face the reeling Charlotte Hornets on Wednesday night (7 p.m. ET, MSG) before Thanksgiving weekend provides sterling tests against Milwaukee and Toronto.
