The New York Knicks have a lot riding on All-Star big man Karl-Anthony Towns. Head coach Mike Brown gave the big man a clear challenge ahead of the team's game against the Houston Rockets. He told reporters, with regard to Towns' second-half turnaround against the Detroit Pistons two nights prior, that it's the center's job to read defenses and identify opportunities to create 3-pointers for himself. Towns responded with back-to-back games in which he scored 25 points, or more, while making more than half of his shots. That's exactly what the Knicks need from their star big man.
Towns drops back-to-back 25-point games after challenge from Brown
After Brown made it clear to the media that the onus is on Towns to properly position himself, allowing teammates to set him up with scoring opportunities, the big man scored 25 points against the Rockets. Towns made 10 of his 15 shots that night, including all three of his 3-point attempts and both of his free throws.
The Knicks are clearly capable of winning despite Towns' five two-point misses, couple of turnovers, and four fouls. They didn't win in spite of those errors from the big man; they won in large part because of his defensive leadership in the fourth quarter and late-game execution. He kept making the right decisions, finding open teammates and taking advantage of mismatches when they presented themselves.
The very next night, in the second leg of a back-to-back for New York, Towns scored 28 points in the team's win in Chicago. The All-Star big man made 10 of his 17 shot attempts, including five of nine 3-point heaves. He missed a free throw, going 3-4 on the night overall from the charity stripe, but turned in another performance that was stellar overall. And most importantly, the Knicks won another game.
This is exactly who the Knicks need Towns to be to make another deep playoff run. For all of the discussion about the center's defensive woes over the years, his rim protection has looked solid all season long and his biggest issues have come on the offensive side of the floor.
From his offensive fouls to lack of success shooting both around the rim and from behind the 3-point arc, Towns getting back on track as a scorer has potential to be a major development for New York.
Although the Knicks lost definitively to the Pistons ahead of the back-to-back 25-point games from Towns, the center scored 21 points on 7-14 shooting that night at home. After scoring just 11 points against the Celtics in Jose Alvarado's Knicks debut, Towns has scored 20 points or more in five straight games.
If he can keep this momentum up, the Knicks can definitely make it back to the Eastern Conference Finals. He might even win them another game with a 20-point fourth quarter once they're there.