Karl-Anthony Towns is checking every box the New York Knicks could have hoped for during the NBA Finals, and even some they didn’t see coming. We can now go ahead and add “Potentially bounced former orange-and-blueman Luke Kornet from the San Antonio Spurs’ rotation” to the list.
If this turns out to be hyperbole, it’s only because Mitch Johnson has no other option to back up Victor Wembanyama. Or because Mike Brown galaxy-brains the heck out of this chess match by playing Mitchell Robinson more in hopes that it forces the Spurs to increase Kornet’s court time.
Yes, the 30-year-old big man’s minutes have gone that well for New York. Kornet, who spent his first two pro seasons on the Knicks, has tallied a little over 18 minutes of floor time through Games 1 and 2. New York has won these stretches by a total of 14 points, the equivalent of a 35.9 net rating.
Pretty much all of this damage is being done with Towns in the game. The Spurs have actually only lost Kornet’s minutes by two points with Mitchell Robinson on the floor. When he’s playing opposite KAT, the Knicks are plus-12 in about six minutes. That’s a net rating of approximately 80. Seriously.
Karl-Anthony Towns is clearly on the Spurs’ mind
San Antonio has already started reducing Kornet’s role as a result. He logged just 10 minutes in Game 1. That total dipped to eight in Game 2.
The shift is most evident in the fourth quarter. Kornet played 45 seconds in the final frame of Game 1. There’s almost no way he could have seen fewer ticks in Game 2.
Except, he totally did.
Kornet racked up a whopping nine seconds of fourth-quarter action Friday night. And that’s only because San Antonio subbed him in for De’Aaron Fox while Jalen Brunson was shooting free throws with under 10 seconds to play. If not for the Spurs needing to beef up their rebounding in that moment, he wouldn’t have seen the floor for even a nanosecond.
At this rate, it feels like only a matter of time, which is to say Game 3 or maybe Game 4, before Kornet is phased entirely out of the rotation.
The Knicks may force the Spurs into a wholesale shift
If the Spurs go away from Kornet, they’ll have to turn somewhere else. They have extended Wembanyama’s minutes for this series, but they can’t play him for a full 48.
Downsizing to center-less lineups would be their most palatable, if only, alternative.
Dusting off Mason Plumlee, Bismack Biyombo, or Kelly Olynyk is akin to waving the white flag. San Antonio has at least dabbled in no-big arrangements, albeit not this series.
This might be cause for concern if you’re the Knicks. While the guys who could play in Kornet’s stead—Harrison Barnes, Keldon Johnson, Carter Bryant—haven’t set the world on fire, the Spurs’ small-ball lineups can be dynamic at both ends. Plus, as we’ve already mentioned, the Kornet minutes have been dynamite for New York. Losing them could hurt.
Emphasis on could. Because they probably won’t.
Towns is currently punishing Wemby, the first unanimous Defensive Player of the Year, and the NBA’s only 7’4” alien. He should have no trouble dominating against teensy-tiny lineups. And in the unlikely event he does, the Knicks have OG Anunoby-at-the-5 just sitting in their back pocket.
Basically, the Spurs have no good answers. But some are more painful than others. Towns may have made it so that continuing to play Kornet would be the most painful of all.
Add us as a preferred source on Google