New York Knicks All-Star center Karl-Anthony Towns had the best performance of his season so far on Monday against the Washington Wizards, a game in which New York secured their fourth consecutive home victory by a score of 119-102.
Knicks’ Karl-Anthony Towns is growing more comfortable in the new system
Towns scored a season-high 33 points, grabbed 13 rebounds, dished five assists, shot 12-for-24 from the floor, and 3-for-8 from three in the victory. The performance resembled the version of Towns they got last year, and he seems to be getting into a groove under the new system.
Head coach Mike Brown agreed that Towns is starting to adapt to the system and acknowledged that there is still a ton of room for improvement.
“He’s starting to feel and find his rhythm and what we’re trying to do, but I’m telling you, there’s still a lot of room there to grow. Not just for him, but for us to learn him, starting with me, and us to continue learning the different points or parts of what we’re trying to do offensively,” Brown said (h/t Posting and Toasting).
The Knicks are hoping for a big season from Towns
At the end of training camp, Towns had expressed some uncertainty about what his role could look like in the new system. Like most of the other players, adjusting to a much faster offensive scheme is going to take some time for him, especially as an offensive-minded player.
However, they reason that they went with a score-heavy approach when choosing a new head coach was because they want to maximize Towns’ talent. Given that he is one of the most gifted scorers at his position of this generation, New York wants to get the best possible version of him to go on a deep run.
The team has huge expectations this year, and a lot of that success will be dependent on Towns’ performance this year. If they can get games such as Monday out of him more often, the Knicks can be set up to dominate their conference this season.