All-Star big man Karl-Anthony Towns is the center of a plethora of narratives, as is the case with every other star player in professional or collegiate sports. One that's followed the New York Knicks' star throughout the course of the last several years of his career is that he is "soft."
But no amount of screenshots of his post-ups can change the fact that he just played through clear injury against the Los Angeles Clippers. Despite the Knicks losing that game, it was a powerful showing from Towns, who limped off of the court at halftime and needed to work with trainers during breaks, but still dropped a masterpiece of a game.
Towns plays through knee injury, posts near triple-double
Reporters at the game on Monday night, such as Newsday's Steve Popper, pointed out that Towns was both limping and grabbing his right knee after consecutive rim attempts came up short. Nonetheless, the big man came out for the second half and continued to deliver.
For a seven-footer, playing through knee injuries is no small task. Winding up just three assists shy of a triple-double while dealing with them is a direct disproval of the narrative that Towns is soft, uncompetitive, or unwilling to "do the dirty work" in favor of a perimeter-centric game.
The Knicks' scoring, outside of Towns, Jalen Brunson, and OG Anunoby, was close to nonexistent. Josh Hart finished with 12 of their 118 points, but Towns' 35 points, Brunson's 28, and Anunoby's 22 more than led the way for New York.
The six-time All-Star's performance, however, stood out above the rest. On top of his 35 points, Towns pulled down 12 rebounds and dished out seven assists. It was a monster performance from the center, who continues to dial in on both sides of the court when the Knicks have arguably needed the production from him most.
Towns' surge is coming at the right time for the Knicks
Perhaps the surge from Towns would have prevented their series of struggles early on in the season. But, as head coach Mike Brown has said often, the experience gained from facing that adversity that will be incredibly valuable to his group in the postseason.
With the league's Play-In Tournament just over a month away, and the playoffs starting soon after, this is definitely some great timing for Towns' adjustment to Brown's system to take place. The coach recently issued the center a challenge, telling the media ahead of a game against the Houston Rockets that it was up to the All-NBA big to read defenses, pick his spots, and make sure that he's getting open.