How Karl-Anthony Towns punishes the Celtics, even without the use of his biggest weapon
Listen to the name of Karl-Anthony Towns and one thing probably comes in mind: shooting at 3 points. The 7 feet caught a lot of Flak a few years ago to proclaim itself cheerfully “the greatest shooter of a great man of all time”, but what do you guess? All my apologies to Dirk Nowitzki, but Kat’s claim is almost unassailable at this stage.
Only six times in the history of the NBA, a player has an average of 20 points and 10 rebounds per game for a full season on the shooting divisions 50/40/80. Three of them belong to cities. Kentucky’s product is the child of the Modern NBA poster, pulling a 40% virgin 3 -point range on more than four attempts per game during his 10 -year career.
So when you say that Towns injured the Boston Celtics while the New York Knicks opened a 2-0 series lead thanks to two improbable returns, you would be excused for having thought that it was probably light beyond the arc.
However, nothing could be further from the truth.
Until now, in two semi -final games of the conference against Boston – Match 3 is Saturday afternoon at MSG – Towns has not yet made 3 points. Even more shocking, it is only taken two long -distance attempts. It is true, the biggest shooting man of all time is not even really filming – at least not in the range of 3 points.
It is a testimony to his underestimated versatility that Towns always has a significant impact on the series, and he does in several ways.
Post-ups
With Jalen Brunson as an engine of the offense, Towns does not have a ton of opportunities to present his post-match. During the regular season, he was solid, landing in the 54th centile in efficiency, according to synergy sports. In the playoffs, however, this increased the 94th centile when he spent 14 for 27 on the field in post-up situations. This is particularly precious because Boston sometimes throws small defenders in cities. Look here while he publishes Jaylen Brown, essentially ignoring the double team of Jrue Holiday, knowing that he can just turn and shoot.
Cities also know that the Brown 6-6 will not be able to get closer to its sweater (even if it does not really jump), so it has the freedom and the confidence necessary to take photos that seem incredibly difficult for most humans, but are actually like lay-ups for it.
And these are not only the small players whose cities have benefited. He is absolutely punished al Horford – one of the strongest and most cagued pole defenders in the League – on several occasions. After the Knicks were late at the start of match 2, Towns made his way back against Horford to win one and one on a jump.
This worked so well that the cities essentially made a carbon copy on the following game, reducing the Boston’s advance almost in two on two possessions.
The Celtics have so many bodies to throw on Brunson that he simply cannot carry the charge of scoring by himself. Publishing UP Towns is a simple source of offense that New York has used it until now in this series.
Walks
If the Celtics will sell on the 3 points of the cities, he must be able to put the ball on the ground and go to the edge. Although it is not the most fluid driver, Towns has shown that it can be effective in this area, especially when he has a great man on him. Look here while Horford gets into the city’s jersey behind the arc, leaving no space to shoot a blow. Towns makes a rapid and decisive movement to its left which results in an easy lay-up.
Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau spoke of the offensive versatility of cities during their opening serial victory against the Pistons de Detroit.
“He has great confidence and he has an incredible touch,” said Thibodeau. “He shoots the ball like a guard, and he has an unlimited significance. He can mark the dribble, he can start in the basket, he can mark in many different ways.”
The cities are known to be a little prone to rolling, so no one on the Knicks wants him to dribble on the ground. But if it makes movements like this – the straight line rolls with little hesitation – it can continue to make Boston pay to defend it so closely on the perimeter.
Defense
Most skepticism concerning the arguments in terms of the title of the Knicks revolved around the protection under the rim of the cities. With him as the only great man on the ground, thought has gone, they will not have the capacity to stop the elite scorers with which they would face the eliminatory series of the Eastern Conference – from Cade Cunningham to Jayson Tatum to, potentially, Donovan Mitchell or Tyrese Haliburton. Well, so far, in the playoffs, cities have not been a game of play.
During the regular season, cities landed in the 19th centile in defense at the edge, granting 1.16 points per shooting, according to Synergy Sports. Until now, in playoffs, this has jumped at the 58th centile, falling to 0.96 points per shooting. Look, he will never be Rudy Gobert, but if the cities are just competent As a rim protector, he completely changed this defense of Knicks.
He was also solid defense against Boston. Yes, problems that are generally a problem, but Towns has done a decent job by sliding his feet and showing his hands to the referees on the discs of Tatum and Brown, using his massive frame to push them out of their line towards the edge.
The relative speed of cities for a large man also allowed Thibodeau to look more at the strategy of pairing together and Mitchell Robinson. Until now, in 55 minutes during the playoffs, the Towns-Robinson combo has been devastating with a net note more-14, allowing 84 frugal points per 100 possessions. Against Celtics, these figures become downright laughable (Net Note more-67 in 15 minutes). Not only does the duo cause an obstructed path for potential Boston penetrators, but it also forces Joe Mazzulla to make match decisions that can leave players like Brown, Holiday or Derrick White on an island against cities.
Robinson was so effective in match 2 that Mazzulla chose to intentionally incorporate him to get him out of the match. The Knicks brought Og Anunoby for Robinson to 2:41 and proceeded to Boston, 9-4, 9-4, to close the victory.
Bounce
It goes without saying that Towns has been a great rebounder since he put a Knicks uniform. His 12.8 boards per game finished second behind Domantas Sabonis during the regular season, and it fell slightly at 11.3 per game in the playoffs. But where Towns really makes waves against Boston, it’s on offensive glass.
During the opening series against the pistons, Towns collected seven offensive rebounds in total in six games. During the two games against Boston, he already equaled it. Cutting offensive glass was a large part of the identity of the KNICKS last season, but it disappeared widely after the overhaul of the alignment of New York in New York when they went from the first in the offensive rebounds per match of 2023-24 in the 19th this season.
With Robinson and Josh Hart, Towns is a great reason why this identity seems to resurface against the Celtics. A certain number of plates o of cities come from him simply greater than the person in front of him. But he also shown more willingness to crash the perimeter, which creates opportunities like this from the fourth quarter of match 1.
“Just as he was throughout the season, he was one of the best teammates we have,” said Brunson about cities. “The way he gives us energy, and the way he goes and gets rebounds, and what he does. This does not go unnoticed, and that’s just the way he was.”
Can he continue?
The Knicks are clearly in the driver’s headquarters of this series, but no one has the reigning champions – in fact, the Celtics are still favored not only to win the series, but also win the Eastern Conference. If New York will remove the upheaval, this will need the cities that have come for the first two games. He has proven that he is able to have an impact on a series even without the use of his greatest weapon – shooting at 3 points – but he also has a story to disappear and / or implode during the great moments of the playoffs.
The cities greatly contributed to reputation in the playoffs in the finals of last year’s conference with the Minnesota Timberwolves, and play well in a serial victory over the Celtics could help to increase its position among the stars of the NBA elite.
“We cannot continue to make these 20 points tracks for Boston, and hope to come back and win the match,” said Towns after match 2. “We have to play better, we have to get better. We cannot start having this kind of Knicks Basketball played when we are declining 20 years. We have to start the game in this way and finish the game, 48 minutes.
