One of the most pressing questions of the NBA postseason thus far is whether New York Knicks frontman Jalen Brunson has elevated himself to superstar status or not. While Brunson is no doubt the catalyst for New York’s historic turnaround as a franchise, Karl-Anthony Towns is the player whose performance means the most if the Knicks want to be crowned NBA Champions in just a few short weeks.
KAT Has Indiana’s Number
Towns has been consistently dominant against Indiana both this season and throughout his entire NBA career. The 29-year-old averaged 30.3 points, 12 rebounds and 1.7 assists in three meetings between the two teams during the regular season.
Throughout his career, Towns has averaged 27.8 points, 11.1 rebounds and 2.7 assists against Indiana. He has three 40+ point games against the Pacers, including a 40-point, 12-rebound performance in a 128-115 win this season on February 11.
To boot, Towns’ 27.8 points per game against the Pacers throughout his career is tied with the Bulls for his highest scoring average against any opponent in the league. Like Indiana, Towns also has three 40+ point games against Chicago.
Towns’ 39 points and 12 rebounds in Game 1 went to waste as the Knicks squandered a double-digit lead in the final minutes, but his 24-point, 15-rebound performance in Game 3 was the driving force behind New York’s come-from-behind Game 3 victory that changed the climate of the series heading into Game 4 on Tuesday.
Towns is averaging 26.3 points and 11.3 rebounds throughout the first three games of the Eastern Conference Finals thus far.
Must-Perform Matchups
As a tweener at the 4 and 5 positions, Towns’ role on both ends of the floor is magnified against a Pacers team that gets significant frontcourt contributions from both Pascal Siakam and Myles Turner. If Towns, usually a minus defender, can hold firm in his matchup with Turner while outscoring Siakam on the offensive end, the path to a Knicks victory becomes much clearer on any given night.
“He’s a tough matchup, I feel like, for anybody in the league,” teammate Josh Hart said. “When he has it going, it’s great for us because it opens up so many things. I think we even had some back cuts that we probably didn’t connect on, but they were open.
“We need that aggression from him all the time offensively, and when he does that, it also bleeds into his defense.”
If the Knicks do survive this series against the Pacers, Towns’ role as a scorer becomes even more important against the Oklahoma City Thunder and/or the Minnesota Timberwolves. If Towns and Brunson can combine to score at the pace they’ve proven all season, the Thunder will have a hard time keeping up with the Knicks’ offense with their own lack of output outside of the MVP, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
If it’s Minnesota, a dud series offensively against four-time Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert will essentially handicap any chance the Knicks have of keeping up with the Timberwolves’ depth.
