Karl-Anthony Towns was officially named to the All-NBA teams on Friday night. A few hours later, he was benched in the fourth quarter. Could the unthinkable be on the table, where New York Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau pulls an All-NBA player from the starting lineup?
This is obviously not where the New York Knicks thought they would be a week ago. They were riding high coming off a series win over the Boston Celtics, pulling off two improbable comebacks to win both games in Boston and then winning a pivotal Game 4 to take a commanding lead in the series that ultimately turned into a six-game series victory.
They had homecourt advantage in the Eastern Conference Finals after the Indiana Pacers pulled off an upset of their own from the 4-seed and the entire city of New York was pumped to see the Knicks take on their old foes en route to the NBA Finals. The only problem? The Pacers weren't ready to lose.
Indiana pulled off another magical comeback of their own to steal Game 1, and then were simply the better team for 48 minutes in Game 2. The Knicks are down 2-0 in the series and heading on the road, a dangerous place to be in. This series could be all-but-over by the time Knicks fans go to sleep on Sunday night.
Desperate times call for desperate measures, and it's not impossible to imagine a world -- be it in Game 3 or beyond -- where Tom Thibodeau moves Karl-Anthony Towns to the bench.
Towns could lose his spot in the starting lineup
The Knicks' starting lineup has been struggling for the entire playoffs, a fact that isn't obvious in the face of two series wins. They have routinely fallen behind against opposing starters, then made up the difference when they break their starters up by inserting either backup big Mitchell Robinson or backup guard Miles McBride.
That is an unexpected development after the Knicks rode their starting five all season to the most minutes of any 5-man lineup in the league. Yet it bears out however you look at the numbers, and it highlights one player in particular who is struggling this postseason: Karl-Anthony Towns.
The All-NBA Third Team center has had a number of strong scoring performances, but his inconsistency paired with a complete lack of defensive impact from the center position has hurt the Knicks. Per the stat site Databallr.com, the Knicks have played 370 minutes this postseason with Towns as the only big on the court, and they have a -4.9 net rating in those minutes.
When Towns and Mitchell Robinson play together, the Knicks are incredible, with a +20.9 net rating, albeit in only 97 minutes. The Knicks have also played 146 minutes with Robinson on the court without Towns, as they did for most of the fourth quarter in Game 2 as Thibs went away from his starting center. In those minutes, the Knicks are a robust +6.4. This played out in Game 2, as the Knicks were -20 in Towns' minutes but +6 in Robinson's.
Mitchell Robinson cannot play 48 minutes in a game; he played 29 minutes -- one more than KAT -- in Game 2, and that is likely close to his max. His brand of relentless basketball is effective but cannot be maintained over 38-40 minutes, and he is always a fingernail away from another injury.
Could Thibodeau decide he wants Robinson's minutes happening at the start of the game, with Towns coming in against backup units? On the one hand, Thibs is not one to make titanic adjustments to his starting lineups during series. On the other, he does clearly value what Robinson brings to the table, and Towns' negative impact is worsening.
It would be a surprise, but perhaps not a shock, to see Towns come off the bench in Game 3. If the Knicks are pushed to the brink of elimination? Thibodeau may be forced to play his final trick and hope it's enough to bring life back to the Knicks -- even if it means benching Karl-Anthony Towns.