Karl-Anthony Towns is giving the Knicks exactly what they need while the contract questions hover in the background.
New York has steadied itself after an 0-3 start, winning five of its last six to move above .500 for the first time this season. The latest step forward came Saturday night in Cleveland, where the Knicks handled the Cavaliers 109-97 behind a big night from their top two scorers. Jalen Brunson and Towns combined for 60 points, with Towns turning in one of his best performances of the young season: 29 points and 13 rebounds.
Brunson remains the engine, but Towns is the one making the early-season history. The veteran center has now opened the year with a double-double in each of his first nine games, the longest such run to start a season for the Knicks since Charles Oakley did it in 1989.
Towns’ numbers have been as steady as they come. He is averaging 13.6 rebounds per game, second-most in the NBA, and he’s one of 10 players pulling down double-digit boards this season. Among that group, only four are scoring at least 20 points per game, and Towns is the best rebounder of the bunch.
That rebounding pace stands out even more when you look at his career track record. He has never finished a season averaging 13 rebounds per game, so this would be a new high for him. His 20.9 points per game would also mark the second straight season in which he’s finished below 21.
The shift fits the way Towns is approaching the game right now. After the win over Cleveland, he said, "As you get older and older, you start realizing that all the times you was trying to prove to people everything, you were never going to make everyone happy," he said after the Cavaliers win. "Stop trying to prove yourself to everyone, just bring the best product and the best version of yourself to the court every single day."
That mindset has helped him lean into the team side of the job, and it comes after he already has an NBA Championship on his résumé.
Even with his production rolling, Towns’ future remains a talking point. His contract situation has been under the microscope since the start of the season, and he still has a $61 million player option on his current deal after this year before reaching free agency in 2028.
Still, Towns says the uncertainty isn’t going to spill onto the floor. He told Newsday, "I can’t allow outside distractions and ego to get in the way," he said, via Newsday.
"We won last year because we put our egos to the side and we did what’s best for the city, best for this team, for this organization. And we sacrificed, and I’m always gonna be willing to sacrifice for my brothers and this family that we built here."
In Other News...
Cavs Quieted Early Doubts With Help From An Unexpected Rotation Boost
The Cavaliers answered an early test against Philadelphia with the kind of effort that usually travels well in the postseason conversation: physical rebounding, connected defense and enough shot-making from Donovan Mitchell to keep control of the game. Cleveland had the edge on the glass and made life difficult for the Sixers for long stretches, a good sign for a team still sorting out how its rotation pieces fit together after a recent trade added another layer to the mix.
Peyton Watson was a big part of that stability, giving Cleveland a useful two-way boost in his latest outing and helping slow down Tyrese Maxey on the perimeter. Mitchell supplied the steadying offense with 23 points, eight assists and seven rebounds, and the Cavaliers got contributions across the lineup to protect the lead and finish the job, even as the bigger question remains how much of this version can hold up once the schedule tightens. [Read more 🡒]
Kenny Atkinson Revisits The Cavs Quote Fans Never Forgot
Kenny Atkinson spent part of the week revisiting a line from the previous Eastern Conference Finals that stuck with fans long after the series ended. The comment came when his team was already down 0-3, and he said the point he was trying to make was about expected wins and the broader context of the question, not a claim that his group had somehow earned a better result.
Atkinson also used the moment to underline something coaches often say but rarely get to explain in detail: analytics matter, but so do mental and physical toughness when the games get tight and the season gets heavy. For Cleveland, it is another reminder that the margins in the postseason are shaped by more than numbers, even if one old quote still has a way of following a coach around. [Read more 🡒]
Cavaliers Just Got A Frustrating Knicks Reminder They Couldn't Ignore
The Cavaliers left Madison Square Garden with a 109-97 loss and a familiar kind of frustration, the sort that can linger because it was built on more than one bad stretch. Donovan Mitchell poured in 37 points, but most of that damage came late, after the game had already tilted the wrong way, and Cleveland spent much of the night trying to dig out of an early hole against a Knicks team that looked more physical from the start.
New Yorks edge was felt in the places Cleveland usually wants to control, with extra possessions and loose balls turning into a steady problem the Cavs never solved. James Harden had a rough night offensively, going 2-for-9 and finishing at minus-23, which only added to the reminder that this matchup can get away from Cleveland quickly when the other team wins the hustle battle and forces the Cavs to chase instead of dictate. [Read more 🡒]