Jalen Brunson is everything to the New York Knicks. That isn't up for debate. Through the first three games against the Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference Finals, though, it's become clear the fate of the Knicks, and their ability to make NBA history, will be largely determined by someone else:
Karl-Anthony Towns.
After playing a pivotal role in the Knicks falling behind by 20 points in Game 3 on Sunday night, Towns then proceeded to save them, spearheading yet another come-from-behind victory with an absurd 20-point detonation in the first six-minutes-and-change of the fourth quarter.
It was both a surreal and typical roller coaster performance from New York's star. He battled foul trouble, spotty defense and infuriating offensive decision-making for more than half of the game. And then, he went kaboom—so much so that Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau left Brunson on the bench way longer than normal, even with the point guard in foul trouble.
Now is a good time to mention that New York is trying to do something no other team has done: come back from losing the first two games of a best-of-seven playoff series at home and make it through to the next round. The task is daunting even after pulling out another win on the road. Towns has the ability to make it easier. Or impossible.
Karl-Anthony Towns is the Knicks' second star—for better and worse
After playing a pivotal role in the Knicks falling behind by 20 points in Game 3 on Sunday night, Towns then proceeded to save them, spearheading yet another come-from-behind victory with an absurd 20-point detonation in the first six-minutes-and-change of the fourth quarter.
It was both a surreal and typical roller coaster performance from New York's star. He battled foul trouble, spotty defense and infuriating offensive decision-making for more than half of the game. And then, he went kaboom—so much so that Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau left Brunson on the bench way longer than normal, even with the point guard in foul trouble.
All along, through both the regular season and playoffs, the biggest knock on these Knicks has been their uncomfortably heavy dependence on Jalen Brunson. His importance was fine—endearing, even—when New York was a happy-to-be-here collective. This team isn’t that anymore, not after surrendering control of seven first-round picks over the offseason.
Expectations are higher. The pressure is greater. The Knicks built themselves in the image of a team that could beat the reigning champion Boston Celtics, make it to the Eastern Conference Finals, and still have their season go down as a failure.
It sure looked like things were headed that way for most of Game 3. Then KAT happened. He got aggressive. He went after Indy’s smaller players. He also went after the Pacers’ bigs, including Myles Turner, against whom he’s had plenty of success. Towns drove. He hit threes (3-of-4). He went to work in the post. Contact wasn’t just absorbed; it was sought out. Towns went 5-of-6 at the foul line in the final frame. He also boarded eight rebounds, and held his own on defense.
This stretch proves what most have known all along: The Knicks do not have a reliable No. 2 option, but Towns is the closest they come to having a No. 2 option at all. He is more of a mismatch at his position than OG Anunoby or Mikal Briges. He can score at more levels, and is more comfortable generating his own shot.
There are moments, like the fourth quarter of Game 3, in which this is a comforting notion. Then there are the other moments, like we also saw throughout Game 3, in which it is alarming.
Towns has the power to save the Knicks...and also ruin them
Towns is a human roller coaster, and has been his entire career. It is being exacerbated now not just because he’s in the conference finals (he was there last year), but because his offensive inconsistencies and disappearing acts cannot be as easily offset by the elite defensive safety nets the Minnesota Timberwolves had behind and alongside him.
For the Knicks to beat the Pacers, they need the version of KAT they got towards the end of Game 3. But they don't just need him for pockets of time. They need him indefinitely. Brunson isn't always going to be able to ferry the offensive burden on his own. There will be nights in which he's battling foul trouble, inexplicably bad decision-making, missed shots, and obscene defensive pressure. On Sunday, he labored through all of them.
Equally important: Even with Peak Brunson, the Knicks are a more dynamic offense when Towns plays like this—like a star. Asking him to be more aggressive is only wishful thinking if you think he's not talented enough to do it. He is. He has shown that he is on a number of occasions, and did so again in Game 3.
Consistency is Towns' biggest issue. By and large, the Knicks know what they're getting from Brunson. That doesn't make him less important. But with so much uncertainty around him, it increases the influence held by New York's myriad wild cards.
This is something Towns can control—the energy, the attack mode, the self-awareness to recognize he can torch a Pacers team that, for some reason, remains reluctant to defend him with smaller players. If it was a matter of him needing to play at an All-Defense level, then yeah, go ahead and book the Knicks' trip to Cancun. But this is a matter of offense, of Towns' calling card, of a strength that he so often allows to become a weakness, or at least something less than a strength.
Nights like Sunday spotlight both the beautiful and brutal parts of the Towns experience. In doing so, they also make one thing inarguably, uncomfortably clear: He is the catalyst who will swing the Knicks' fate more than anyone else in this series—and beyond.