Karl-Anthony Towns is in the midst of his 11th season in the NBA. He turned 30 years old less than one week ago. He has played for several different head coaches throughout his time in the league that have had a variety of contrasting styles. But he's never played in a motion-heavy offense that relies on read-and-react principles, keeping players in perpetual motion. Mike Brown is silently unlocking a version of Towns, an optimized one, that we've never seen before now.
Towns is on track to have the fourth-lowest usage rate and points per game average of his career. He's shooting just 31.7% from 3-point range through his first 14 games, on pace for the lowest of his career. But his head coach said confidently after the team's win over the Dallas Mavericks that he's counting on things to improve.
"The longer he's in it, getting live action, going through it five-on and then watching film, the better he’s going to be," Brown said of Towns on Wednesday night.
For a big man as offensively skilled as Towns, having a 3-point percentage in the NBA's 23rd percentile through Friday morning doesn't feel right. The shots he's getting, though, have been looks of an acceptable quality. The 30-year-old has had halves like his first in last Friday's NBA Cup matchup against the Heat where almost every shot falls. Before the end of the regular season, that success will likely be more evenly spread out.
Rick Brunson fueled Karl-Anthony Towns' dominant half vs. Heat
Towns dominated the Heat in the first half last week, scoring 31 points. Brown credited assistant coach Rick Brunson for the team's continued prioritization of the big man throughout the half.
“We wanted to play through him. It was great. Rick Brunson was the first one to say it. He was like, ‘Hey, keep playing through KAT. Keep playing through KAT. Keep playing through KAT,'" Brown said, relaying his assistant's message to the media.
Towns' offensive success didn't continue into the second half in the form of scoring. He finished the game with 39 points and 11 rebounds. However, this wasn't because he had lost his 3-point touch. Erik Spoelstra's defense adjusted to his first-half performance, sending relentless double teams.
Mike Brown's system has helped Knicks early
This is where Brown's system has been beneficial for New York: in situations where their opening salvo was effective but they now need to attack the opposing defense differently. The pivot to the utilization of Towns as a playmaker was simply Brown and the Knicks listening to Spoelstra and the Heat.
It's no surprise, as a result of similar adjustments, that Towns is on pace to log the fifth-highest assists per game of his career thus far with 3.4 on average.
Karl-Anthony Towns is important to keep track of as a defense. It's harder to do that when he's moving around the court, balancing scoring and playmaking, and hustling. Brown seems to be getting that out of him so far.