The KAT who left Minnesota isn’t the same one who’s returning — he’s better
Credit to Author: Chris Herring| Date: Thu, 19 Dec 2024 22:56:24 EST
IN OCTOBER, after the New York Knicks blew a 13-point second-half lead to drop a winnable game to the Cleveland Cavaliers, the home locker room was eerily quiet.
Some of that was the nature of the defeat; the Cavs had shown more toughness and hustle to grind out the win, traits that have long-defined Tom Thibodeau-coached teams. But some of the hushed tones also stemmed from a glaring number on the stat sheet.
Karl-Anthony Towns, the sharpshooting big man acquired from the Minnesota Timberwolves at the start of camp and on a $220 million contract, had gotten off just eight shot attempts. Asked about Towns’ limited looks that night, Knicks guard and team captain Jalen Brunson acknowledged he needed to do more to get the ball to his center.
“As good as Karl is, there’s no way [for a defense] to take him out of a game. It’s on us and it’s on me to make sure we’re on the same page and to make sure that everyone’s eating,” Brunson said from his corner locker. “I’ve gotta be better about adjusting, and I’ve got to see him.”
Even more baffling: The low shot total against Cleveland had become something of a trend. Through his first three games as a Knick, the four-time All-Star had averaged nine shots per game — fewer than any member of the starting five, even though he’d logged the best true-shooting percentage of that five-man group.
It didn’t take long — two days, to be exact — for the issue to be rectified.
With Brunson looking to facilitate, Towns lit up the Miami Heat‘s top-10 defense, scoring 44 points on 17-for-25 shooting and marking a sea change for the Knicks’ offense, which ranks third in the NBA and has seen Towns go from last in the team’s starting five in shots per game to first since that Oct. 28 loss to Cleveland.
“Stuff is coming so much easier for them than it did last year,” an Eastern Conference scout told ESPN of the Knicks’ 16-10 start. “We knew the spacing would be better with Towns, but I didn’t think they’d be humming like this so quickly.”
The transformation — for New York and for Towns, who’s in the midst of a career season as he returns to Minnesota on Thursday (9:30 p.m. ET, TNT) — raises a tantalizing question: With Towns playing this well, what is New York’s new ceiling after back-to-back second-round exits?
THE EXPLOSIVE POTENTIAL was evident — almost immediately. Late in the first half of the Knicks’ second game of the season, Brunson dribbled around a Towns screen and probed the right side of the floor, forcing Indiana Pacers guard Andrew Nembhard and center Myles Turner into a decision. They both followed Brunson.
But then Brunson abruptly stopped, squared his body and fired a pass to the trailing Towns, who had been left wide open. Turner sought to close out but was painfully late. His shoulders slumped as the ball slipped through the net to give the Knicks a 16-point lead as time expired in the first half. The Garden boomed with glee. And Towns, who had held his follow-through at the 3-point arc, stood in place, shimmying in celebration.
This was exactly what the Knicks envisioned for this duo — a dynamic pick-and-pop ability that simply overwhelms a defense that has no earthly clue who to stay with in the split-second choice. Should they prioritize the stout guard, who last season became the first player since Michael Jordan to notch four consecutive 40-point playoff performances, or should they focus on Towns, who has drilled 40% of his career 3-point tries and has perhaps correctly called himself the best-shooting big in basketball history?
It’s an impossible decision, and on that late October night, it was one the Pacers simply couldn’t answer as the Knicks waltzed to a 25-point home victory.
The Knicks, who featured one of the most stagnant, iso-based offenses in the league last season, now have scary optionality.
Brunson and Towns are scorching defenses for 121 points per 100 possessions in pick-and-pop scenarios, and the Knicks as a team rank second in the league on such plays. They’ve made a massive 19-point improvement over last season, when Brunson and the Knicks ranked 29th in the NBA in pick-and-pop scoring efficiency.
Towns’ offensive impact extends far beyond the pick-and-pop game. The space his shooting provides opens up the lane for one of the NBA’s most creative finishers. It’s no coincidence that Brunson, who shot 61% at the rim two seasons ago and 63% last year, is up to 67%. On average, Brunson has had 1.25 players contesting his layups and floaters this season when Towns is on the floor, according to Second Spectrum tracking. For context, that number jumps to 1.47 players contesting Brunson drives with Towns on the bench.
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