Few players can be so infuriating. Few players can be so dominant.
Karl-Anthony Towns’ brilliance eventually overpowered his long-standing demons in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference semifinals, as the 7-footer overcame his latest bout of foul trouble and picked apart the Joel Embiid-less 76ers front line, finishing with 20 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists and one steal in 27 minutes in the 108-102 win at Madison Square Garden to help give the Knicks a 2-0 series lead.
Through the first two rounds of the playoffs, Towns is shooting 59.7 percent from the field — 13-for-19 through the first two games against the Sixers — with 10.5 rebounds per game.
And after averaging 3.1 assists over the first 11 seasons of his career, the new point center, who recorded his first two playoff triple-doubles (and came up 3 assists shy of a third) against Atlanta, has averaged 7.8 assists in the past five games — all Knicks wins.
“I just want to [make] the right plays when the ball hits my hands, whether that’s driving, passing, taking the shot or slowing down our offense to get us organized,” Towns said. “I just want to impact winning, and I was able to do that.”
Even with Mitchell Robinson (illness) out in Game 2, Towns remained undisciplined, getting called for a moving screen 30 feet from the hoop barely two minutes into the game. Towns then picked up his second foul with 4:29 left in the first quarter, forcing Mike Brown to turn to rarely used Ariel Hukporti for early minutes.
“That’s tough to try to combat when Mitch is out,” Brown said. “He’s an important player for us. It’s no secret we need him on the floor. He just has to avoid unnecessary fouls.”
Less than a minute into the second quarter, Towns picked up his third foul, sending him to the bench until the second half, having played less than nine minutes.
“I don’t ever want to lose the physicality,” Towns said. “That’s done us well. I’ll look at the tape. I’ll get better, more disciplined. I don’t want to put my team in that position again, so I gotta do a better job.
“For better, for worse, I may not have been able to play many minutes in the first half, but I tried to use that as an advantage to have a more rested body than everybody else on the court and try to be a spark plug for our team coming out of halftime.”
Towns took over when the second half began, opening with a 3-pointer, before adding a 3-point play and a spin move that set up a kiss off the glass. He made each of his first six shots.
Even when he was fouled and threw up a prayer that resulted in the ball getting stuck below the shot clock, Towns knocked it down on his first swing with a mop to cheers, following several failed attempts by Philadelphia big man Andre Drummond.
“I wanted to get the game going,” Towns said. “I already had a hot hand.”
Still, Towns — who came out after picking up a fourth foul late in the third quarter — happily took a back seat in the fourth quarter. He attempted just two shots, but pulled down nine rebounds in the final quarter, along with two assists.
Just impact winning.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
