When New York Knicks coach Mike Brown spoke recently about what this team must do to a win an NBA title, he had some curious omissions. Defense was a big one, but maximizing Karl-Anthony Towns looms just as large for their championship hopes.
It's been a season-long struggle to bring out his best, and that struggle doesn't rest on his shoulders alone.
"The situation with Towns has got to be driving them crazy," an advance scout told ESPN's Brian Windhorst and Tim Bontemps. "But I'll tell you what, everyone bears some blame. It's on KAT, it's on Mike [Brown], it's on [Jalen] Brunson. And they all need to work together to get more consistency because that's a huge key for them."
Keeping Karl-Anthony Towns consistently involved and engaged is New York's biggest hurdle.
When postseason opponents start sketching out their defensive game plans against the Knicks, they'll inevitably start with overloading attention on Brunson. He is, after all, the proverbial head of this snake, balancing the burden of handling primary duties as both a scorer and a table-setter and subsequently building a down-ballot MVP case.
The question then shifts to how the Knicks can counter, and the answer should be Towns. He is a legitimate star (six All-Star selections) and, in theory at least, the definition of a tough cover as a 7-footer with feathery touch from range and three-level scoring punch.
His fiery nights burn hotter than most. He's had 25-plus points in 12 games this season and cracked the 35-point mark in five of them. Serving as the focal point of a contender might be a tick above his pay grade, but he should—again, at least theoretically—be able to serve second-option duties on a championship-parade-planning powerhouse.
He feels too talented to wear the X-factor label, but the numbers say that's exactly what he is for the Knicks. When he's good, they're usually great. Those dozen 25-plus-point efforts, for instance, resulted in 10 New York Knicks (and single-digit road losses in Minnesota and Boston).
He is impactful in his current role. His plus-7.9 net differential ranks second on the team, per NBA.com, behind only deadline addition Jose Alvarado. But Towns is capable of more, meaning his influence on this club could be even greater.
It's just that a few things must change to make that happen. For him, it's about being more assertive on offense and more reliable on defense. For Brunson, it's about trusting Towns enough to share the offensive burden more. For Brown, it's utilizing Towns in ways that get him more comfortable—like mixing in some interior touches and not just having him serve as a jumbo-sized sharpshooter.
It'll take a village, as they say, but the potential prize makes it worth the collective effort. Control of the Eastern Conference is within reach. It'll just take the best efforts of this group to grab hold of it.