Knicks do a better job of fitting Karl-Anthony Towns' skill set into offense
Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns is defended by Clippers center Ivica Zubac in the first half of an NBA basketball game at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
The Knicks needed this. Mike Brown needed this. And most of all, Karl-Anthony Towns needed this.
Towns needed to have a big-time game, not just for the team but for his mental psyche. Because the one thing worse than a good team on a four-game losing streak is a good team on a five-game losing streak with a disgruntled superstar.
Towns put a tourniquet on the Knicks bleeding Wednesday by scoring nine of his 20 points the first 4:06 of the fourth quarter to help push the Knicks to a 123-111 win over the Los Angeles Clippers.
Towns fell three assists short of a triple double, adding 11 rebounds and a season-high seven assists.
His early fourth quarter scoring helped launch the Knicks on a 15-5 run that gave them control of the game for good with a 105-92 lead with 7:07 remaining.
The win couldn’t have come at a better time.
More than anyone else on the team, Towns has struggled to adjust to Mike Brown’s high paced offense and was coming off one of his worst games of the season, an embarrassing loss in Detroit where he finished in single digit fourth time this year.
“He’s an explosive scorer. I have to find ways to help him, like I have to help the rest of the team,” Brown said.
“In the same breath what I like about tonight is that he’s an All-Star level player. Those type of players impact the game. What I like about him is he was impactful defensively, 11 rebounds and seven assists.
“The nine points definitely helped. But he did what great players do. He found other ways throughout the course of the ballgame to help this team win.”
Anyone who has spoken to Towns over the past week can tell that the Knicks center was becoming increasingly demoralized.
And who could have blamed him?
Though Towns is having a season that is not out of line with his career production, averaging 21.5 points and 11.5 rebounds heading into Wednesday’s game, a lot of that has to do with the fact he was averaging a career-high 6.9 free- throw attempts. His field-goal percentage has dipped from 52.5% to 47.1% thanks in large part to hitting only 35.6% of his threes, the worst since his rookie season.
Towns shooting Wednesday was nothing to write home about as he was 6-for-18 overall and 0-for-2 from three-point range. Still, he left the Garden with big smile after getting a much-needed win where he contributed.
“It was just about winning man,” Towns said. “That’s not just about shooting. It’s about getting my teammates involved and making the right play. . . . I said it last year and I said it this year. I need to touch the ball and get aggressive. I just want to impact the ball every single day.
“I made some shots [in the fourth]. I think tonight just shows you that aggression wins. Not letting go. Some shots weren’t going in but I was just staying aggressive. At the end of the day it worked out for our team.”
Four times in his first 30 games, Towns scored in single digits. That happened only once last season when Tom Thibodeau was the Knicks’ coach. In fact, in Towns’ previous 10 seasons, it happened only 10 times.
It’s hard to imagine things getting worse than they were for Towns in the Knicks’ embarrassing 121-90 loss to the Pistons on Monday. Towns’ six turnovers equaled the number of points he scored. In 23 minutes, Towns made one field goal, attempted just four shots and had only one rebound.
After practice on Tuesday, Towns was asked about the difficulties of adjusting to Brown’s offense.
“It’s a process. It’s a different process,” Towns said in a voice barely above a whisper. “When I get my opportunities, I’m going to try to maximize them.”
Towns was then asked how he deals with the situation.
“I lean on my experience,” Town said. “I’ve unfortunately had to adjust to a lot of head coaches and a lot of new teammates and situations.”
Towns, whether you love his game or not, was brought here as the second superstar to push the Knicks over the top. There are things he does better than almost anyone in the league. When he is at the top of his game — like he was when he scored 40 with and 13 rebounds against Minnesota — he can be unstoppable.
On Wednesday, he seemed to find a way, even when the ball wasn’t falling.
Barbara Barker is an award-winning columnist and features writer in the sports department at Newsday. She has covered sports in New York for more than 20 years.
