After averaging 24.4 points and 16.9 field goal tries per game during the regular season, Karl-Anthony Towns has attempted 17 or more shots in just three of 11 playoff outings so far this spring and has been held below 24 points in all five games in the Knicks‘ second-round series vs. Boston.
Towns was limited to 5-of-11 shooting from the field in New York’s Game 5 loss, with many of his 19 points coming in the fourth quarter with the game out of reach, prompting Stefan Bondy of The New York Post and Ian Begley of SNY.tv to write that the Knicks need to find a way to unlock Towns and get him more involved in the offensive game plan.
Towns shot 42.0% on 4.7 three-point attempts per game during the regular season but has gone just 2-of-13 in five games against Boston. He suggested after Game 5 that the decline in his shots from beyond the arc has been by design, per Begley.
“I haven’t really been out there really. Haven’t had the chance to shoot. We’ve just been trying to do our game plan and I’m just trying to execute at the highest level,” Towns said. “So I’m trying to do most of my damage inside and do whatever my team asks of me.”
As Begley points out, Towns made just one outside shot in his first two games against Detroit in the conference quarterfinals before knocking down nine and scoring 58 total points in Games 3 and 4, so there’s a recent precedent for him bouncing back and coming up big when the Knicks need him most.
Here’s more on the Knicks ahead of Friday’s Game 6:
- Despite being built around a strong starting five, the Knicks haven’t been as dominant with Towns, Jalen Brunson, Mikal Bridges, OG Anunoby, and Josh Hart on the court as hoped. That lineup had just a +1.9 net rating in 330 minutes from Christmas Day through the end of the regular season and has posted a -7.3 mark in the playoffs, including -16.3 in the second round. With that in mind, Fred Katz of The Athletic considers whether or not a starting lineup tweak makes sense.
- The Knicks acquired Bridges and Anunoby for situations like this one, according to Chris Herring of ESPN, who looks at the impact the two standout wings have made in New York and explores how they could make a difference in Game 6.
- Mitchell Robinson‘s 6-of-6 performance from the free throw line was a silver lining for the Knicks in Game 5 and could make him an even more valuable weapon if he can keep it up, writes Zach Braziller of The New York Post. Despite the fact that New York leads the series 3-2, Robinson’s is the only Knick who has a positive net rating (+10.6) vs. Boston.
- The Knicks have listed big man Precious Achiuwa as questionable for Friday’s game due to a right ankle sprain. Achiwua’s status doesn’t figure to have any impact on Tom Thibodeau‘s rotation, since he has only played 15 total minutes in the series.