Karl-Anthony Towns #32 of the New York Knicks
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Karl-Anthony Towns #32 of the New York Knicks
With just under two minutes to go in the first half of the Knicks‘ ugly 112-101 loss to the Kings in Sacramento on Wednesday–a game that was not as close even as the double-digit score indicated–the team put forth a sequence that coach Mike Brown said summed up the night for the visitors. Maybe in the bigger picture, it sums up where star big man Karl-Anthony Towns is with the Knicks these days.
On the play, Towns drove to the basket, with the Knicks trailing, 50-36. Towns lost his footing and slipped to the floor, letting the ball trickle away for a turnover and a Sacramento fast break. Russell Westbrook missed a shot on the break, and Precious Achiuwa batted the offensive rebound for another chance for Westbrook. That time, Westbrook made the 3-pointer.
The Knicks went down by 17 points on the play. The worst of the play, though, came in Towns’ reaction. He stayed on the floor while the Kings were on the break, and it was only at 1:30–12 seconds after he slipped–that Towns finally rejoined his teammates and got set on the other end.
Mike Brown on Karl-Anthony Towns: ‘There Was No Urgency’
For Knicks coach Mike Brown, who has been at ongoing loggerheads with Towns for most of this season, the play was inexcusable. And it was also emblematic of the lack of effort the Knicks showed in Sacramento.
“Something happened where he fell down. I think it was, he drove and he fell down,” Brown said. “When you fall down you gotta get up. You gotta sprint down the floor. Even if you’re the last guy down the floor, you gotta get down there, just in case there was a long rebound. Now, there was no urgency.
“That wasn’t the only play, there were a handful of plays where we did that, but there was no sense of urgency on that particular play to get back. And it was a five-point swing. If he at least gets down the floor, long rebound, he is going tog et it because he is trailing the play. But we watched the play at halftime and he didn’t even cross halfcourt. You know, that’s part of–that sums up what our night was.”
Knicks Need to Play to Identity
Perhaps the lack of effort can be chalked up to the dog days of the NBA season, with the Knicks in the midst of a grinding four-game road trip that has now kept them away for a week. But with star guard Jalen Brunson out because of an ankle injury he suffered in the first quarter on Wednesday, a lack of effort at Golden State on Thursday threatens to render this a 1-3 road trip.
The Knicks have lost six of their last eight, and are 4.0 games behind the Pistons for the top spot in the East. More important, they are just 0.5 games ahead of the Celtics, and 1.0 games ahead of the surging Raptors.
Brown said the team did not play to its identity on Wednesday. That will need to change.
“The thing I’m most disappointed in is that we’re a team that touches the paint and sprays the basketball, and we had 12,” Brown said.