NBA playoffs 2026: Karl-Anthony Towns, Knicks face major stakes
KARL-ANTHONY TOWNS FLEXED towards the Madison Square Garden crowd following a drive that started greater than 30 toes from the basket and ended with the 7-foot massive man on the ground, awaiting a visit to the foul line to cap a three-point play.
Towns had bullied his method from subsequent to the Atlanta Hawks bench, by way of two defenders and to the rim, extending the New York Knicks‘ result in 14 factors with lower than seven minutes remaining in Saturday’s first-round opener. The play highlighted the matchup nightmare Towns presents all through these playoffs: a flexible stretch massive who must be accounted for always.
“It gets back to efficiency, and that’s a challenge for us right now,” Hawks coach Quin Snyder mentioned earlier than the Knicks’ 113-102 win on Saturday. Towns scored 19 of his 25 factors within the second half, offsetting a cold-shooting evening from All-Star guard Jalen Brunson.
“It’s a little bit of pick your poison. How do you handle [Towns] on the post with a mismatch? How do you handle him on the pick-and-roll? … There are times where it’s good defense, better offense.”
Therein lies the conundrum: With Towns and the Knicks, it isn’t at all times that easy.
Snyder got here into this sequence properly conscious of Towns’ exploits and success towards his crew. Towns’ 28.5 factors per sport towards Atlanta is his highest towards any crew this season, together with 63% capturing from the sphere and 50% from 3.
But it is a gamble Snyder is prepared to take, contemplating how properly New York performs when Towns has massive scoring nights in comparison with others. For instance, the Knicks are 23-4 this season when OG Anunoby scores 20 or extra. When Towns reaches that plateau, the Knicks are 26-15. (After beginning Monday’s Game 2 loss eight for 10 from the sphere, Towns completed with 18 factors as he and the Knicks squandered a 14-point lead to even the sequence.)
What is easy are the stakes, spoken and silent, dealing with Towns and the Knicks’ 2026 playoff run. Under a uncommon however direct edict from owner James Dolan, reaching the franchise’s first NBA Finals since 1999 is the expectation, not the hope.
It’s that method for coach Mike Brown, who changed Tom Thibodeau following his controversial firing in June. It’s additionally that method for wing Mikal Bridges, who arrived two years in the past in trade for a hefty assortment of draft picks.
And it is actually that method for the 30-year-old Towns, who’s at all times underneath scrutiny for concurrently not doing sufficient and making an attempt to do an excessive amount of.
As the Knicks head to Atlanta for Thursday’s Game 3 (7 p.m. ET, Prime), the Towns query is not only one for opposing coaches, however seemingly the Knicks workers itself.
It’s been clear that Towns, whose 13.8 shot makes an attempt through the common season marked a brand new profession low whereas his 20.1 factors per sport was his fewest since his rookie yr, hasn’t been absolutely deployed in his second season with the Knicks.
How Brown and his workers maximize their All-Star middle has perplexed coaches and entrance workplaces across the league all season, a theme that can be magnified because the playoffs progress.
So will the questions on Towns’ match and future — regardless of how far New York advances — forward of what could possibly be an impactful offseason for multiple contenders.
“He so badly wants things to work here,” a supply near Towns instructed ESPN. “He wants to be a Knick for life.”
BROWN WAS HIRED to diversify the Knicks offense and the roster after it was believed Thibodeau ran the starters ragged, with promising playoff runs ending with key gamers struggling accidents. And though Thibodeau led New York to its first convention finals since 2000, the end towards the Indiana Pacers was sufficient for Dolan to spearhead a change on the sidelines.
Towns, who had one in every of his finest seasons in 2024-25 underneath Thibodeau, wasn’t anticipated to be as a lot of a focus in Brown’s offense. There’s no denying he is getting used in another way, as Brown needs to maximise 3-point spacing as a substitute of routinely working Towns into the submit.
“Let it fly,” was a phrase Brown incessantly used early on to explain his strategy. The Knicks jumped from twenty seventh in makes an attempt final yr to twelfth in Brown’s first season.
The questions revolve round each ends of the ground, though Towns’ elite offensive abilities assist offset his defensive shortcomings.
“He doesn’t have the lateral athleticism to execute the [Knicks defensive schemes] for 36 minutes a night,” an Eastern Conference assistant coach mentioned.
“Neither Thibs nor Mike Brown has figured it out: how to use him when he’s not great at the rim.”
Towns and Brown have met all through the season to debate the middle’s altering function, based on sources acquainted to the Knicks’ inside workings. Towns and Brunson, in the meantime, have discovered improved chemistry up to now few weeks, largely taking it upon themselves to work their two-man sport.
“We made some pretty big changes through the course of the year,” Brown mentioned earlier than the playoffs. “I don’t know if I’ve ever gone through a season with a team as a head coach with making the changes that we’ve made with a group of guys.”
That was interpreted as a press release towards Towns, as Brown has altered his protection to restrict Towns’ publicity in area, the place he’s extra vulnerable to foul bother than earlier than. (Towns has dedicated 9 fouls by way of the primary two video games of the sequence towards Atlanta.)
Towns, regardless of a rocky first half of the season when he shot simply 35% from 3 and slightly below 47% from the sphere, rebounded after the All-Star break. Towns performed a few of his most effective basketball of his profession in his ultimate 24 video games, capturing almost 58% general and 42% from deep. Brown routinely factors to Towns’ makes an attempt, second most on the Knicks behind Brunson through the common season, however it would not really feel like he is absolutely utilized.
When the Knicks blow leads or do not win in exceptional trend, Towns’ manufacturing is routinely first amongst postgame speaking factors. Monday’s Game 2 collapse was no completely different.
“KAT’s a great player. He’s got to impose his will on the game,” Brown mentioned postgame. “If he was a young guy, I would need to say something to him. But as a veteran guy, I don’t need to tell him to be aggressive.”
“The opportunities just didn’t come around to shoot it,” Towns said later that night in the Knicks locker room. “At the end of the day, I trust everybody to shoot the ball. The opportunity wasn’t available for me.”
The Knicks’ nationally televised win over the Golden State Warriors on March 15 felt like one other microcosm. None of the Warriors regulars have been lively, essentially the most completed risk being guard Brandin Podziemski. And but, the Warriors led by 21 factors within the second quarter. A livid comeback featured Towns scoring 13 of his 17 factors after halftime because the Knicks survived 110-107.
Despite the win being the Knicks’ third of a seven-game streak, Brown was irritated. Towns, in the meantime, mentioned the Knicks have been “playing with fire,” needing such a rally towards an undermanned opponent.
There was the primary sport after the All-Star break, on the Garden towards the Detroit Pistons, who had badly crushed New York twice this season. The Knicks have been anticipated to ship a message as a receipt, however one other beatdown ensued, even with Pistons massive males Jalen Duren and Isaiah Stewart sidelined.
Towns took the fewest pictures of any starter earlier than halftime after which went on a flurry to begin the third quarter, scoring 12 straight factors to chop into the deficit. He completed with 19, however the Pistons simply dispatched the Knicks for a 15-point win.
After the sport, Brown insisted Towns was snug within the offense and mentioned they’d proceed to discover methods to create alternatives.
“Our offense is our offense. It’s been that way all year,” Towns mentioned. “We have our system. Regardless of who’s in the game or not in the game, we run the system we’ve implemented.”
The numbers say Towns is getting as many touches this season as final. Per 100 possessions, he is getting 82.9 touches this yr in comparison with 82.1 final season, based on GeniusIQ monitoring. He’s capturing barely much less, with 21.9 makes an attempt per 100 possessions. Last yr, it was 23.5.
“On the periphery you always get the sense KAT is on the decline,” an assistant coach who has scouted the Knicks mentioned. “The team numbers from last season to this season, much to my surprise they are almost identical.”
Like all the pieces on this Knicks season, the general numbers say one factor and the sentiments recommend one thing completely different. Towns completed with one sport of fewer than double figures final yr, and this yr that quantity has ballooned to 5.
Brown’s theme to the crew this season has been about making sacrifices, so Towns is not the one Knicks star who believes he can do extra. Josh Hart led the NBA in minutes final season (37.6 per sport), and early within the season he dealt with fourth-quarter benchings and has seen his minutes minimize to 30.2. Anunoby is enjoying three fewer minutes. Brunson’s manufacturing, in the meantime, is comparatively flat from final yr.
But regardless of bouts of sloppiness and early rising pains, the Knicks entered the postseason because the East’s second-ranked offense behind the Boston Celtics, their second-round matchup ought to each groups advance.
“If KAT plays at the highest level, the Knicks are as good as any team in the league,” a Western Conference crew govt mentioned. “But he doesn’t bring it every night. I’m not talking about the scoring part. The intensity defensively, the interior presence. I can’t deny his talent. He’s a special talent.”
Executives across the league consider Towns could be the important thing to the Knicks possibilities to topple the convention favorites. If they cannot, many entrance workplace members across the league additionally consider New York will survey the marketplace for Towns trades this summer season.
IS TOWNS’ GAME in decline or is he simply being underutilized? Is Towns a Knick for all times or a placeholder for the subsequent star angling to play at Madison Square Garden? There has at all times been smoke round Towns and his future with the Knicks. And this summer season, anticipate it to billow.
“People say a lot, but I know this: Dolan loves Towns,” a league govt mentioned.
The Knicks did have an opportunity to increase Towns earlier than the beginning of 2025-26 however opted to attend. Towns, based on sources, wished a brand new deal however did not anticipate one to come back this season.
With two years remaining on his contract — $57.7 million in 2026-27 with a $61 million participant possibility for 2027-28, based on ESPN’s Bobby Marks — Towns could be the franchise’s largest commerce chip, salary-wise, if the Knicks selected to chase a celebrity comparable to Milwaukee Bucks ahead Giannis Antetokounmpo.
On the ground, Towns has performed up to now two convention finals, serving to the Minnesota Timberwolves after which the Knicks dethrone favored defending champions within the second spherical — the Denver Nuggets in 2024 and Boston final season. Making it that far is not even the naked minimal this time round, going again to Dolan’s demand.
The Knicks should get to the Finals, or it seems like large modifications could possibly be so as.
Last summer season, the Bucks and Knicks entered into an unique negotiating interval centered round Antetokounmpo, league sources told ESPN’s Shams Charania in October. With the tumultuous season Milwaukee had this yr, many across the league foresee extra exploration of the two-time MVPs future, particularly as a result of he can signal an extension within the fall.
Towns has been traded earlier than — on the eve of coaching camp, no much less — and he is properly conscious of the rumors surrounding his future. In Minnesota, he did not get an opportunity to assist the Timberwolves construct on their stunning convention finals look after surviving regime modifications and a revolving door of teammates and coaches.
Knowing his future in New York might very properly be determined by the subsequent six weeks of playoff basketball, Towns has a possibility to reshape it — and the seasonslong narrative surrounding his match with the Knicks.
“If they come up short, if they don’t make the Finals — aside from Bridges, because he was traded for all the draft picks — Towns will take the most heat because of his résumé,” a high-ranking rival crew govt mentioned. “Because Brunson won’t take the heat and they’ll say Towns didn’t deliver.
“Especially with Giannis sitting on the market.”