Karl-Anthony Towns finally looking like version Knicks need

It’s finally starting to click for Karl-Anthony Towns. 

This is the version of Towns that was missing too often this year.

This is the version of Towns that the Knicks need as they finish out the regular season and head into the playoffs. 

In the eight games since the All-Star break, Towns has been making smarter — and quicker — decisions in his shot selection.

It’s resulted in much better efficiency with his shooting.

On the defensive end, he looks much more comfortable since the Knicks switched their defensive scheme and has been paramount to their dramatic turnaround on that side of the ball. 

“Just trying to be the best player I can be in my role,” Towns said after the 103-100 loss to the Thunder on Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden. “I wanna be a star in my role, and I’m just focusing every day on doing that and impacting winning. …  That’s what I wake up every day thinking about for this team — how can I impact winning and be a star in my role?”

In those eight games since the break, Towns’ scoring was similar to where he’s been at most of the year — 19.4 points per game, compared to his average of 19.8 before the break.

But his efficiency was through the roof.

He shot 61.2 percent from the field and 52.2 percent from 3-point range across those eight games.

Before the break, he was shooting just 46.6 percent from the field (that would have been the lowest of his career) and 35.1 percent from deep (which would have been the lowest since his rookie year). 

And the types of shots he took were different, too.

He took fewer 3-pointers — 2.9 per game — in those eight games.

Before the break, he was averaging 4.5 per game. In four of those eight games, he took one 3 or fewer. 

As a result, he thrived more in the paint.

In the eight games since the break, 66.7 percent of his shots came within 10 feet of the basket, per NBA.com’s tracking stats, up from 61.5 percent before the break.

And he’s been more effective in the paint, too.

He shot 63.3 percent on those shots within 10 feet of the basket since the break, up from 55.1 percent before the break.

That’s because he’s been grabbing more offensive rebounds (3.9 per game since the break compared to 3.0 before the break), which leads to easy putbacks, along with establishing himself in the paint for post-ups rather than driving out of control from the perimeter into the lane and taking off-balance layups.

There have been multiple games since the break — like against the Rockets, Spurs and the Thunder — where Towns was the best Knicks player on the floor.

He led them in scoring three times over those eight games since the break. 

On the other end of the floor, Towns has gone from a weakness defensively to a positive contributor. Individual defensive rating can be a bit misleading and is swayed by other factors on the court, but Towns’ defensive rating is 103.0 points per 100 possessions since the break, compared to 111.3 before the break. 

Jalen Brunson is usually a known quantity in terms of production.

There is likely no player more key to the success of the Knicks than Towns, given how much variance there has been in his floor and ceiling this year. 

“We’re still a work in progress, anyone can tell you that, we all will tell you that, but we’re getting closer to that time when we need to be the best version of ourselves, and I see us getting better,” Towns said. “And that’s the most important thing right now.” 

Since the break, Towns has looked a whole lot more like that best version of himself.

Maintaining that level could be a game-changer for the Knicks.