\u201cgreatest big-man shooter of all time\u201d<\/a> to, you know, shoot more. They\u2019ve wanted him to be more of a bully when smaller players are guarding him. The list goes on. He\u2019s often the scapegoat when things get dicey in New York, which happens more often than it should with a team of this much talent.<\/p>\nYet Towns routinely shows up when the stakes are highest. He did it last postseason. And he\u2019s doing it again.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s one of those guys who can take over a game,\u201d Josh Hart said.<\/p>\n
Coming into the series against Atlanta, many people thought this would be an opportunity for Towns to shoot 20 times a game, something people have clamored for at times this season under head coach Mike Brown. The Hawks are small. The Knicks\u2019 most clear advantage was going to be inside, with Towns the most likely candidate to feast in several areas.<\/p>\n
It has been a Towns series, but he doesn\u2019t need a plethora of shots a night to prove that. Towns hasn\u2019t taken more than 13 shots in a game this entire series. He needed only 10 on Saturday to prove a point.<\/p>\n
The big man has been efficient all playoffs by bulldozing to the rim and finishing, by knocking down trailing 3s and hitting the offensive glass. Where Towns controlled Game 4 is as the offense\u2019s hub. New York played out of the high post often, allowing Towns to get the ball and throw his water polo-style passes as his teammates cut into open spaces.<\/p>\n
Towns grew up idolizing Magic Johnson. That\u2019s why he wears No. 32. Sometimes, he gets too carried away with the angles and tight spaces he tries to force the ball into, but the intentions are always good. That\u2019s part of the charm of idolizing one of the sport\u2019s greatest ball movers. Towns was clinical as a passer in Game 4, patiently waiting as guys broke free and hitting them on time and on target.<\/p>\n
The Knicks\u2019 offense flourished with that setup.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s special at moving the ball,\u201d said OG Anunoby, who scored 22 points and was often the beneficiary of Towns\u2019 passing. \u201cI know he\u2019s going to find me, no matter how tight the window is.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brown didn\u2019t go into the night saying \u201cWE MUST GET KAT THE BALL!\u201d per se. The head coach said the Knicks made tweaks to their early offense that would allow them to get to their second action in a possession quicker, and by doing so, it led to the ball being in Towns\u2019 hands quite a bit. Towns then delivered as both a passer and driver when the opportunities presented themselves.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re just trying to find different ways to get KAT the ball,\u201d Brown said. \u201cOne way is playing through the elbow, and he had a couple of post-ups. We\u2019re trying to move him around, whether at the top of the floor, the elbow or on the block so he can get a few more touches throughout the course of the game.\u201d<\/p>\n
This series, Towns has also been impactful defensively as a rim protector. The Knicks\u2019 setup has allowed him to be at the rim when the Hawks are driving, as opposed to guarding in space and then trying to beat a ballhandler to the rim. Towns has seven blocks in four games.<\/p>\n
Atlanta\u2019s answer for Towns is hoping that he stops himself. When Towns doesn\u2019t take a smaller player to the block and tries to gain possession, the Hawks win. When Towns doesn\u2019t make the right read at the right time, the Hawks win. When Towns turns down 3-point shots, the Hawks win. The way it\u2019s been defending him, Atlanta is banking on Towns beating Towns.<\/p>\n
Towns hasn\u2019t beaten himself, and the Knicks are getting an efficient version of him in the process. The shot attempts aren\u2019t high, but few possessions go to waste when Towns initiates offense. That\u2019s a win for New York.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe really put us in position to win,\u201d Jalen Brunson said.<\/p>\n
All the way up until the final month of the regular season, Towns routinely mentioned that he\u2019s still getting comfortable in Brown\u2019s offensive system. Why was that the case? The blame needed to be passed around.<\/p>\n
Plays weren\u2019t always called to make sure multiple possessions didn\u2019t go by without the big man in advantageous positions. Towns himself struggled with his spots in the read-and-react scheme. Teammates didn\u2019t always do a good job of finding Towns when he was open. His 13.8 field goal attempts per game this season were a career low.<\/p>\n
So far in the postseason, Towns has looked pretty comfortable. He\u2019s been direct. He\u2019s been purposeful. He\u2019s done the best of what he\u2019s known for and blended it with what his head coach wants him to do.<\/p>\n
To Towns\u2019 credit, he appears to be adapting, even if he does wish more shots were coming his way. That\u2019s what winners do.<\/p>\n
Another playoffs, another call that Towns has answered.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ATLANTA \u2014 Karl-Anthony Towns, with each step, basked in the love a bit more. It was in the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":210804,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[21,9,1104,56,63,65,64],"class_list":["post-210803","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-city","tag-nba","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-knicks","tag-ny","tag-nyc","tag-nyc-headlines","tag-nyc-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210803","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=210803"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210803\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/210804"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=210803"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=210803"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=210803"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}