Karl-Anthony Towns is shining so far this season in several aspects of the game. He's leading the league in rebounds per game, proving he can be a facilitator, and finding his footing in Mike Brown's system.
Despite those bright spots, some bad habits are getting worse for the big-man. Towns leads the league in personal fouls (209) through Wednesday, and has already fouled out of more games this regular season than all of last season. In fact, he surpassed last season's total while playing less minutes per game this year, and with over a month left in the regular season.
His most recent disqualification came against the Oklahoma City Thunder with about three minutes left in regulation. The Knicks went on to lose 103-100. After the game, Towns discussed his foul troubles.
"It's obviously frustrating, you want to win the game and you want to be out there with your teammates," said Towns. "In the moment I'm not even thinking about the fouls, I'm just thinking about staying locked in on the goal at hand."
It's time to start thinking about the fouls in the moment
While staying locked in on winning is obviously important, having Towns on the court in crunch time is just as important for the Knicks' success. The All-Star center put up a respectable 17 points and 17 rebounds in the loss on an impressive 87% from the field.
When he picked up his sixth foul, the Knicks were down five points and were well within range of beating the top seed in the NBA. Although New York ended up missing two good looks to tie the game with under six seconds on the clock, it's safe to say they would've had a better chance if their star center was still in the game.
There are some factors that should be considered when mentioning Towns fouling out against Oklahoma City. The Knicks were without backup center Mitchell Robinson, and the Thunder are well known for having players like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who Mike Brown said, "does a great job of convincing the referees, probably better than anybody in the league, that he’s getting hit.”
However, this is a common issue for Towns, especially when playing good teams.
Towns is fouling out against good teams and it costs the Knicks
Of his six disqualifications for fouls this season, five occurred while playing a team currently in playoff position. Towns has fouled out against the Nuggets, Timberwolves, 76ers, Spurs, Thunder and Pacers.
In those games, the 40-23 Knicks have a record of 2-4. That small chunk of games might seem unimportant to an 82-game season, but most of those losses came against teams the Knicks wanted to prove they can beat – not teams everyone knows they can beat.
Confidence is crucial going into the NBA postseason, and wondering whether New York would've beaten good teams if Towns did not foul out causes uncertainty instead.
There is still time for Towns to prove to the team that he will be on the court for the final minutes of close games during the postseason. It's important for everyone that he does.