Karl-Anthony Towns wasn’t buying into the premise of the question.
It was put to him, after Saturday’s Knicks practice, that some might argue he should be taking more shots given his status as a superstar.
“I’m about winning, so as long as we’re winning, it’s fine,” Towns said.
Implicit in the argument, of course, is that Towns getting more involved would help the Knicks win more games.
“All I know,” Towns said, “is as long as we win, we good.”
That perspective might be just right after Towns managed a modest 10 points in a Game 6 victory over the Pistons. Nonetheless, it’s widely acknowledged that the Knicks will require more from him when they face the Celtics in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
Perhaps it’s no coincidence that when Towns had his standout regular-season performance against the Celtics — recording a 34-point, 14-rebound double-double on April 8 — it resulted in the most competitive of the four encounters between New York and Boston this season.
In the other three games, all blowouts, Towns wasn’t as much of a factor, with just 45 points combined.
Still, there was an awful lot of talk Saturday about how impactful Towns can be when his shot isn’t going.
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“When he’s up against a second or third defender, I don’t want him forcing shots against three people. I want him to pass the ball,” Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau commented on Towns’ playing strategy. “If he does so, he benefits the team. That’s the key aspect. I believe KAT had an outstanding Game 6, especially if you consider his rebounding and the defensive plays towards the end of that game. That was crucial for us. Absolutely crucial.”
Indeed, it’s true that Towns’ 15 rebounds in Game 6 led the Knicks and indeed, there are nights the Knicks can win without him as one of their leading scorers.
“We can’t let offense or shots falling dictate the way or how hard we play or the things we can control,” Jalen Brunson said. “So I feel like a lot of people on this team have that mindset and we’re going to have to, because the longer we go [in] playoffs, the more difficult games are gonna be, so we can’t just let little things like that have an effect on how we’re playing.”
Nevertheless, it’s hard to picture the Knicks pulling off what would be a monumental upset if Towns isn’t a factor in all parts of the game throughout the series — yes, including putting the ball in the basket.
Lagging behind scoring-wise against the Pistons — Towns averaged 19.7 points in the series compared to 24.4 during the regular season — is one thing.
Doing so against the Celtics would be another.
