The New York Knicks will enter Game 3 of the NBA Finals with a 2-0 lead, having stolen homecourt advantage from the San Antonio Spurs and bested them in a second game of the series that went down to the wire.
In both wins, Karl-Anthony Towns was a difference maker, not just with his ability to score and rebound, but also to defend and make basketball harder for Spurs big man Victor Wenbanyama.
Throughout two games, he’s been drawing Wemby away from the basket, forcing the 7-foot-4 Frenchman to settle for way too many jumpers rather than get to the paint where he can dunk and dominate.
Those defensive performances, coupled with his statistics, continue to build what was already an All-Star resume as the Knicks compete for the franchise’s third championship, the first since 1973.
According to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, it’s also making a case for where Towns could go in terms of the trajectory of his NBA career.
Jay Williams also said everyone is seeing “the best version” of himself that we’d expected to see all along. Williams said Towns is realizing he’s the player he’s supposed to be and embracing it.
“This transformation has not been sudden because he’s been working towards this whole life,” Windhorst said. “But it has been stunning … He’s kicking Wembanyama’s [expletive] in this series, and it is absolutely the difference in what’s going on right now. And if he can do it for a couple more days, he’s going to the Hall of Fame!”
Towns trails teammates Jalen Brunson and OG Anunoby when it comes to scoring averages in the playoffs, but he’s been a significant reason for the Knicks’ wins in the Finals.
He’s averaging 19.5 points, 12.5 rebounds, four assists, and one block through two games. There’s the potential for Towns to add NBA champion and Finals MVP to a resume that already includes Rookie of the Year, six-time All-Star, and three-time All-NBA Third Team.
The biggest difference in his career could become that 2024 three-team trade that saved him from continuing to fail in Minnesota as part of a Timberwolves roster that couldn’t get past tougher teams in the Western Conference.
Since joining Brunson and the rest of the team several years ago, the Knicks have now become the talk of the East and are on the verge of capturing the championship that NYC has been waiting for years.
NBA Finals Game 3 between the Spurs and Knicks begins at 8:30 p.m. ET on Monday.
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