That queasy feeling that Knicks fans are currently contending with is not just coming to terms with the fact that they are trailing in the Eastern Conference Finals to the Indiana Pacers, or that Games 1 and 3 featured remarkable comeback wins by any team. They are also riding the ceaseless rollercoaster that New York big man Karl-Anthony Towns provides.
After scoring 35 points in their demoralizing Game 1 loss to the Pacers at Madison Square Garden, Towns found himself on the bench for considerable stretches in Game 2, as Indiana star and Knicks villain Tyrese Haliburton continuously exposed the stark mismatch with constant switches to isolate the 7-footer defensively.
With his Knicks trailing 0-2 in the series, Towns followed that up with one of his worst performances in recent memory through the first three quarters of Game 3 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Sunday night.
Through the opening 36 minutes, he had just four points on 2-of-8 shooting with four turnovers and four fouls while New York still managed to whittle a 20-point deficit down to 10 entering the fourth quarter.
But with Jalen Brunson in foul trouble, head coach Tom Thibodeau was forced to turn to veteran guard Delon Wright, who had appeared in all of three minutes during the playoffs.
Wright and fellow reserve guard Deuce McBride ramped up the Knicks’ defensive intensity, though, which left the scoring responsibilities almost solely on the struggling Towns’ shoulders.
It was a responsibility he thrived in, going 6-of-9 from the field, including a 3-of-4 showing from 3-point range, to score 20 points in the final 12 minutes to clinch a vital 106-100 win.
“When he gets in that zone like that, it’s going to be tough to stop him,” Knicks guard Mikal Bridges said. “We needed every single point that he gave us in that fourth quarter. Just happy he’s on our side.”
He finished his night with 24 points and 15 rebounds, while the Knicks pulled off their third 20-point comeback of the postseason.
The fourth-quarter strategy seemed rather simple: give Towns the ball and clear out.
He opened the scoring in the fourth with a three-ball before making two driving layups — seven of the Knicks’ first nine points of the quarter to cut their deficit in a flash to 82-79.
He then scored New York’s next seven points in every fashion imaginable: a pair of free throws, a 3-pointer, and a thunderous dunk with the and-one to give the Knicks an 87-85 lead with 8:02 to go.
Up one inside six minutes to go, his final three of the night put the Knicks up 94-90, and the Pacers never got that close again.
“They put me in great spots to succeed, and I just wanted to capitalize on the opportunity,” Towns said. “All of us are just trying to do whatever it takes to win, get ourselves back in the game. We wanted to put ourselves in a position where, at the end of the game, we found ourselves with a chance of winning.”
Towns’ heroics staved off the hysteria that would have come with a 0-3 series deficit and spelled certain doom for the Knicks after they upended the defending champion Celtics in the second round.
Not only would they have failed to capitalize on a franchise-altering series win to get them to their first conference final in 25 years, but the blockbuster trade for Towns over the summer, in which they sent a package headlined by Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo to the Minnesota Timberwolves, would have been for nought. Especially with Minnesota being in the Western Conference Finals.
A loss in Game 4 on Tuesday night will see those storylines crop back up, but the Knicks now have a blueprint on how they can beat the Pacers, and Towns appears to be the key to it all.
“KAT, as we know, is a very gifted scorer,” Thibodeau said. “He can score three different levels. He’s comfortable at the 3-point line. He’s comfortable putting it on the floor. He’s comfortable playing back to the basket. So, as long as he stays aggressive, it’s a huge plus for us.”
