New York Knicks star big man Karl-Anthony Towns is being “evaluated,” according to head coach Tom Thibodeau, after suffering a knee injury during Tuesday night’s Game 4 loss to the Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference Finals.
Towns appeared to suffer the injury with 2:11 left in the fourth quarter of the 130-121 loss after colliding with Pacers forward Aaron Nesmith. He was able to tough out the final two minutes after a timeout stemming from a coach’s challenge, but he looked to be in considerable pain.
“I’m only thinking about the loss,” Towns said after the game. “I’m not thinking about [my knee] right now.”
That loss has put the Knicks into a 3-1 series deficit, meaning one more defeat will end their season and punch the Pacers’ first ticket to the NBA Finals since 2000. New York has not made the Finals since 1999.
Towns’ availability is paramount to the Knicks’ chances of surviving or mounting any sort of comeback in this series, with Game 5 coming up on Thursday night at Madison Square Garden.
“He was able to go back in, so that’s a good sign,” Thibodeau said. “We’ll see where he is after he gets evaluated.”
Towns finished Game 4 with 24 points and 12 rebounds, continuing his impressive showing against the Pacers this series. He was the sparkplug that keyed the Knicks’ 20-point comeback win in Game 3, in which he scored 20 of his 24 points in the fourth quarter.
He has eight games this playoffs with at least 20 points and 12 rebounds. Only franchise legends Willis Reed (13) and Patrick Ewing (10) have more such games in a single postseason in team history.
While Jalen Brunson understandably directs the offense, the Knicks have found an overwhelming amount of success when Towns is given the ball with the space to create. He’s averaging 25.8 points and 11.5 rebounds per game in the Eastern Conference Finals while shooting 52.4% from the field and 45.5% from 3-point range.
