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."
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Knicks Still Have Kenny Atkinson Explaining Those Cavs Comments
Kenny Atkinsons comments from the 2026 Eastern Conference Finals still have a way of following him whenever the Knicks come up. The Cavaliers coach said advanced analytics suggested Cleveland should have won more games against New York, even though the Knicks swept the series on their way through the postseason, and the remark lingered long enough that Atkinson eventually had to clarify what he meant before a later regular season meeting.
For the Knicks, it has become one of those little postseason footnotes that never quite dies, especially after Karl-Anthony Towns weighed in on it following New Yorks championship run. Atkinsons clarification acknowledged the Knicks as the better team, but the original line still stands as another reminder of how thoroughly New York handled Cleveland when it mattered most. [Read more 🡒]
Karl-Anthony Towns Keeps Giving Knicks Fans Reason To Believe
Dalton Knecht got his first points in a Knicks uniform with a putback slam in his debut, but the bigger early-season storyline has been Karl-Anthony Towns continuing to look like the kind of frontcourt force New York hoped it was getting. He came into the matchup with Cleveland averaging 19.9 points and 13.6 rebounds, and he had posted a double-double in every game before this one, giving the Knicks a steady interior presence as they chase their third straight win over the Cavaliers.
Against a Cleveland team that has been a useful measuring stick, Towns also delivered a notable dunk that fit the tone of his start in New York: productive, physical and impossible to ignore. For a Knicks team trying to build momentum and improve its season record, the encouraging part is not just that Towns is producing, but that he keeps finding ways to make the game feel tilted in New Yorks favor. [Read more 🡒]
Karl-Anthony Towns Just Framed What Really Powers Knicks Basketball
Rebounding has become one of the clearest ways Karl-Anthony Towns measures winning basketball, and his own numbers help explain why. Towns is averaging 13.6 rebounds and 20.9 points per game this season, putting him second in the league on the glass behind Domantas Sabonis while giving the Knicks a frontcourt presence that changes possessions on both ends.
Towns recently made the case that rebounding is about more than just collecting misses, tying it to confidence and the extra chances that can swing a game. He pointed back to the Knicks 2026 championship run as proof of how valuable that edge can be, a reminder that for this team, controlling the boards is not just a hustle stat but part of the identity. [Read more 🡒]