Knicks’ Karl-Anthony Towns set to play Game 4 amid lineup concerns

Towns will suit up for Game 4, but the Knicks’ lineup issues haven’t gone away.

The New York Knicks expect Karl-Anthony Towns to be available for Monday’s crucial Game 4 against the Boston Celtics, despite the left-finger injury he sustained in Saturday’s loss at Madison Square Garden.

According to Kristian Winfield, Towns was a full participant in Sunday’s practice and is set to start for the Knicks.

“Karl-Anthony Towns was a full participant in Knicks practice today after injuring his finger yesterday in Game 3. He is expected to play in Game 4. Towns played through a thumb injury during the season & still found ways to impact wins w/o volume 3s. NYK needs whatever he has.”

During Game 3, the All-Star center appeared to signal to the bench that something—his finger—was “broken” following a second-quarter sequence.

Towns declined to elaborate during his postgame media availability, saying only, “It is what it is. I’m gonna keep finding ways to play, so I ain’t tripping.”

Head coach Tom Thibodeau also brushed off concerns, speaking to reporters after Game 3 and then again after Sunday’s practice.

“It’s the playoffs,” Thibodeau said Saturday. “No one is 100%. You have to understand that you can play well when you’re feeling less than your best.”

“He’s fine,” Thibodeau added on Sunday.

Towns is averaging 18.7 points and 15 rebounds per game in the series, though he’s shot just 42.6 percent from the field and a horrid 14.3 percent from three through three games.

In Game 3’s 115–93 loss, the Knicks’ starters were outscored heavily and have now posted a minus-29 net rating when playing together this series.

That group—Jalen Brunson, Mikal Bridges, OG Anunoby, Josh Hart, and Towns—has struggled mightily, and there might be a simple, yet highly unlikely to happen fix to it: starting Mitchell Robinson.

In just 14 minutes together against the Celtics, a lineup of Brunson, Bridges, Anunoby, Hart, and Robinson has outscored Boston by nine points.

Robinson’s presence could also reduce the Celtics’ incentive to use the infamous Hack-a-Mitch strategy so aggressively, if only because they would instantly put the Knicks in the bonus by doing so from the get-go.

Despite the small-sample success, don’t count on Thibs making such a humongous change and sending KAT to the bench. Another option could be benching Hart in favor of a Twin Tower setup, but it doesn’t sound like it’s happening, either.

Game 4 tips off Monday at 7:30 p.m. ET at the Garden with the Knicks still leading the second-round series 2–1 before the matchup shifts to Boston for Game 5, in which we all hope is a win-and-clinch situation for New York.