Towns’ Defensive Dilemma! Karl-Anthony Towns Must Elevate His Defense for Knicks to Succeed
If the New York Knicks are going to make some noise this postseason, Karl-Anthony Towns has to play well.
Towns, 29, has fulfilled his end of the bargain on offense, but his defense has left something to be desired. ESPN insider Chris Herring thinks that Towns needs to play better defense if the Knicks are going to be strong in the playoffs.
“Part of the issue is how easily elite teams have scored on Towns. Those top-10 offenses have shot 62% on when Towns is the closest defender, the worst mark in the league among players who have contested at least 300 attempts. Largely because of that, whenever the Knicks’ defense collapses to seal off the paint, it often results in the opposing club making a simple kick-out pass for an open look from the corner or wing,” Herring writes.
“There’s reason to believe things could improve a bit over the final month of play. Center Mitchell Robinson, who, when healthy, has been a solid paint deterrent and a good enough athlete to step out and defend ball handlers on the perimeter, returned to the lineup in Memphis on Friday after a seasonlong absence following his ankle surgery in May. Thibodeau will almost certainly pair him with Towns at times to see whether that alignment — one that would look closer to what Towns had in Minnesota with elite rim protector Rudy Gobert — can do better,” he continued.
“But at this point, with the regular season’s hourglass emptying and New York seemingly miles behind the Cavs and the Celtics in the title race, despite being in fourth place in the leaguewide standings, something has to give.”
The Knicks didn’t have this issue last year with Isaiah Hartenstein, but now that he plays for the Oklahoma City Thunder, New York needs to find better rim protection.
While Robinson’s return helps, it takes another player off of the court that could be a better balance on offense. Towns is part of the Knicks’ best lineups on offense, so he needs to be serviceable on defense if the team wants to win games against the best teams in the NBA.
