There are several interesting storylines heading into the Knicks and Celtics second-round series. Can the Knicks slow down the Celtics' 3-point shooting? Will anyone on the Knicks' bench contribute in a meaningful way? Can the Knicks find a way not to have to over-rely on Jalen Brunson?
The answer to that last question lies within answering this question: How can the Knicks find a way to unlock Karl-Anthony Towns when he is being guarded by either wings or guards?
In the Knicks' first-round matchup with the Detroit Pistons, Towns was guarded by Tobias Harris for much of the series. According to the league's tracking data, the Pistons guarded Towns with a forward 64.8 percent of the time and with a center only 18.6 percent of the time.
The strategy worked, as the Knicks generated 1.01 points per partial possession when Towns had a forward on him. For comparison, when guarded by a center, they were able to generate 1.34 points per partial possession. On an individual level, Towns scored 43 total points in the 60 minutes he was guarded by a forward in the series. He scored the exact same number of points when guarded by a center, which was only ~17 minutes.
The Celtics will follow a similar blueprint
The Pistons didn't invent this strategy. In fact, the Celtics also used it in the very first game of the season. In that game, Towns spent much of the game guarded by Jrue Holiday. It wasn't a one-game plan, either. Throughout the Knicks' four games against the Celtics, Jayson Tatum spent far and away the most time guarding Towns.
During that specific matchup, the Knicks generated 1.07 points per partial possession, easily their worst mark out of any player guarding him.
Tatum and Harris are both a similar size and weight; that physical combination has made Towns uncomfortable all year. The other benefit of having Tatum guarding Towns is that it allows Porzingis, or whichever of the Celtics' bigs are on the floor, to guard someone else, likely Josh Hart.
Because Hart isn't a shooting threat, Porzingis and the Celtics' other big men will be able to sag off of him, roaming in the paint to disrupt drives and provide a free-safety level of rim protection.
The other reason the Celtics won't want to have a center on Towns is, well, he does this to them:
How can the Knicks counter?
There are a few possible ways the Knicks can counter having a wing on Towns. One of the ways is to get him the ball in better positions. Far too often against the Pistons, Towns would post up Harris just a step or two inside the 3-point line. Similarly, many of Towns' drives would start several feet behind the arc.
If the Celtics want to test Towns with smaller players, the Knicks need to be able to use his size to punish their decision. He can't shy away from the matchup, he needs to attack it. Towns needs to post up the smaller defenders close to the basket, use his size to overpower them, and get them in foul trouble. He also needs to be willing to set more picks for Brunson, regardless of who is on him.
Another possibility is to run more actions involving Hart for Towns. In the play below, from the Knicks' third matchup against the Celtics in the regular season, Tatum is guarding Towns. Porzingis, who is "guarding" Hart, is sagged off several feet into the paint. The Knicks run a dribble-handoff, with Hart then screening Tatum, so that Towns can attack Porzingis in drop with a full head of steam.
Towns is too good of a player, and far too valuable to the Knicks, to be neutralized to the extent he was in large stretches, or even entire games, against the Pistons. If the Knicks want a real shot at taking out the champs, it can't just be Brunson, Towns needs to step up too.