Knicks Karl-Anthony Towns, Karl-Anthony Towns Mike Brown criticism comments, Towns contract, KAT stats, Miles McBride injury update, Knicks injury report vs. Spurs, New York Knicks San Antonio Spurs NBA Cup Final rematch game,
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Karl-Anthony Towns has been under pressure for the New York Knicks by coach Mike Brown, and ahead of their Spurs game, it's only ramped up.
Whether the New York Knicks, and more specifically head coach Mike Brown, like it or not, the team’s success heavily relies on Karl-Anthony Towns, and so far this season, the center hasn’t lived up to the high expectations put on him.
Averaging his lowest scoring numbers since his rookie season and the worst shooting percentage of his career, Town’s drop off in performance and overall inconsistencies this year have been a major storyline for the Knicks, and in the most important stretch of the season, Towns ramping up his play will be a huge factor in New York making a deep playoff run.
But until the 30-year-old can find more consistency, the pressure is on Towns to perform at a high level for the rest of the season, at least according to Dan Favale of Bleacher Report.
“Inconsistency has been a hallmark of Karl-Anthony Towns’ career. Those dials have all turned up to 11 since joining the New York Knicks,” he wrote. “Pinpointing the genesis of his problems is complicated. You can attribute it to head coach Mike Brown’s system, Jalen Brunson‘s score-first proclivities or a larger struggle to get him the ball.”
In the 2025-26 season, his second in New York, Towns is averaging 19.9 points, 11.7 rebounds, and 2.8 assists on 47.7% shooting, but the ups and downs since the start of the year have been glaring.
Karl-Anthony Towns Under Pressure For The Knicks
When he’s in a groove, Towns is one of the best rebounders and shooting big men in the NBA. But when he’s not, the seven-footer is a liability on defense and offers little help on the offensive side of the ball next to Brunson and the rest of the Knicks’ core.
The latter has been more common recently for New York, and while his playing well translates to the team having more success, his play will only be under more and more scrutiny as the Knicks try to make another deep playoff push this year.
“On some nights, the seven-footer looks like a transcendent floor-spacer and driver who can toss nifty passes and deliver the type of defensive effort that makes you wonder ‘Why can’t he play like this all the time?!'” Favale wrote. “On other nights, he will borderline disappear, if not outright vanish, oftentimes amid visible frustration, other times without so much as a whisper.”
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“You have to adapt to your best players, and right now they’re not adapting to Karl-Anthony Towns.” @TermineRadio tells @JumpShot8 that Mike Brown deserves more of the blame for Towns’ lack of offensive touches.
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This season, Towns has had four games in which he’s taken five or less shots, including eight in which he’s made a total of less than five shots, all of which came on under 50% shooting. Though still the Knicks’ second-highest scorer, Towns not being a consistent offensive option for the team has only become a greater issue as the year as gone on.
“Being so reliant on others to get you the ball is its own problem. So, too, is his complaining to officialsand at-times bizarre logic,” Favale added. “Package these familiar issues alongside career-worst efficiency and a noticeable dip in usage, and you’ve got a big problem without a clear solution.”
There has been a growing rift between Towns and Brown throughout this season, as the coach has multiple times gone out of his way to criticize the team’s starting center, whether it was justified or not.Towns has claimed that he is still trying to find a way to fitin Brown’s offensive style, but as the year hasgone on, based on both his numbers and some of New York’s poor losses, that hasn’t happened yet.
Towns is in the middle of a four-year, $220 million contract and is the highest-paid player on the team. Until he shows more consistency, that deal is looking more like an overpay, and the Knicks could look to move on from him over the offseason, whether it be for Giannis Antetokounmpo or someone else who can offer more stability.
Miles McBride Injury Update, Knicks Injury Report Vs. Spurs
Towns will have a big responsibility on Sunday, as New York faces off against the San Antonio Spurs in a rematch of the 2025 NBA Cup Final. It’s uncertain whether he will be matched up against Victor Wembanyama, but based on his defensive inefficiencies and previous games against the French center, he’ll likely have a different responsibility on that end of the floor.
But what is good news for the Knicks is that Miles McBride is the only player listed on the team’s injury report. He underwent surgery for a core muscle injury in early February. According to team insider Stefan Bondy of the New York Post, McBride doesn’t have a timeline for a return, and while he did begin ‘shooting without jumping’, the Knicks will have to keep using Landry Shamet as his replacement.
“He said there’s no timeline for his return, hopes to come back for the regular season but doesn’t know. Said it’s a slow process and he’s started shooting without jumping,”*Bondy wrote.* “I hope to come back for the regular season, but I don’t know. It’s a slow process.”
Stefan Bondy
Miles McBride spoke with us in Milwaukee. He said there’s no timeline for his return, hopes to come back for regular season but doesn’t know. Said it’s a slow process and he’s started shooting without jumping
The Spurs will be without Mason Plumlee, Harrison Ingram, and David Jones Garcia. However, they have been the hottest team in the NBA recently, currently on an 11-game win streak, anddidn’t lose a game in February.
While the game against San Antonio will already be a test for New York, the pressure on Towns is only growing. A strong performance on Sunday would be good both for him and give the Knicks a bit of reassurance that he can show up against other top teams in the league, but until then, he’s on the hot seat.