Knicks’ shift to feature Karl-Anthony Towns key to winning Hawks series

ATLANTA – For five months or so, there was an open debate over Karl-Anthony Towns’ role on this Knicks team.

Towns’ shot attempts, his post-ups, his pick-and-roll opportunities and his body language were scrutinized nightly.

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Some felt he wasn’t getting enough shots. Others thought the Knicks didn’t know how to use him. Many ex-players in the media felt Towns needed to be more aggressive. Others saw Towns and Jalen Brunson as a bad fit.

But after Thursday night – after Towns dominated long stretches of this Hawks series – it may be time to mute the conversation.

“He’s played phenomenal,” Brunson said of his running mate. “The way we’ve been able to trust each other, all of us obviously including him, it’s been great.”

The shift for Towns and the Knicks started after Game 3. With the team trailing, 2-1, Mike Brown and his staff tweaked the offense “to find more ways to put our guys in their strengths while getting to it quickly.”

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That started with getting the ball to Towns at the top of the floor. He had 10 assists in Game 4 and kept finding his teammates for the rest of the series. In the Knicks’ last three wins, Towns averaged 8.7 assists per game. He also averaged 11.6 rebounds and recorded triple-doubles in two of those three games.

Perhaps just as impressive, the Knicks outscored Atlanta by 62 points with Towns on the floor in Games 4, 5 and 6.

“I thought KAT was amazing,” Josh Hart said when asked about New York’s defense in Game 6. “To start the game blitzing, protecting the rim, he had some big blocks, his energy was huge for us. I just think the physicality, the attention to detail, focus on the gameplan, I think all those are at a very high level.”

Towns seems to be playing at a high level on both sides of the ball at the ideal time for New York.

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His season started with more questions than answers. In late October, Towns gave a less-than-enthusiastic answer to a question about his role in Brown’s offense.

“Honestly, I don’t know. I don’t know,” Towns said then. “But we’re figuring it out. That’s it, but, honestly, I…

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Publish date : 2026-05-01 05:59:00

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