Karl-Anthony Towns already showed New York what he can be in this matchup, and the Knicks still need more than a solid box score when Philadelphia shows up again Friday.
In the opener, a 106-100 loss, Towns put up 19 points and 12 rebounds. Andre Drummond chipped in 12 points and 14 boards off the bench. That kind of production helped, but it wasn’t enough to keep the 76ers from controlling enough possessions to derail New York’s championship celebration.
What gives the Knicks a different layer this time is Towns’ passing. He followed that opener with 19 points, 13 rebounds and five assists in Wednesday’s comeback win at Chicago, and that playmaking matters if Philadelphia decides to load up on Jalen Brunson. An early touch for Towns can force the defense into a bad spot before it gets organized, and that can lead to a shot for him or a pass to a cutter.
The smartest approach, though, is probably not to make this one-note. Towns’ touches can work alongside Brunson’s pick-and-roll game, instead of leaning on a single action over and over. Philadelphia has Joel Embiid in the middle when healthy, and making a center make repeated decisions away from the rim can change the way the floor opens up.
Drummond also gives Brown another path. His work on the glass mattered in the first meeting, and his minutes can help keep Towns fresh without forcing the starting center to absorb every bruising possession. The catch is obvious: the two bigs don’t offer the same spacing, so which one makes sense depends on who is guarding them and which lineup is scoring.
New York can also simplify things and ask Brunson to carry more of the load while using Towns mainly as a spot-up option. That version can work if Brunson is seeing the floor the way he did in Chicago, where he scored 38 points with seven assists.
Friday’s game tips at 7:30 p.m. Eastern in Philadelphia.
Health and foul trouble can reshape the rotation fast, and one loss doesn’t define anything. The real question is whether the Knicks can turn their frontcourt depth into better possessions rather than just piling up rebounds in another tight defeat.
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