Knicks face Pistons without Karl-Anthony Towns, who sits with knee issue
Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Detroit Pistons, Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024. Credit: Noah K. Murray
Health had seldom been a problem for the Knicks through the first quarter of the 2024-25 season, but the injury bug crept in ahead of their home game against the Pistons on Saturday night.
Karl-Anthony Towns popped up as questionable with right knee patellar tendinopathy on the injury report early Saturday afternoon. After going through pregame warmups, the 7-footer was ruled out, and Jericho Sims started in his place.
Jalen Brunson, who was questionable with a lower back contusion, played after warming up and scored 20 points in the first half as the Knicks reduced a 16-point deficit to 11.
Towns, a 10-year pro and first-year Knick, is averaging a team-best 25.2 points (Brunson was at 25.1 entering Saturday night) and a career-high 13.2 rebounds. He led the NBA with 217 defensive rebounds entering Saturday.
That’s nothing new to coach Tom Thibodeau, who also coached Towns with the Timberwolves from 2016-19.
“He’s always been a really good rebounder,” Thibodeau said after the Knicks’ 125-101 win over the Hornets on Thursday night. “It probably dipped a little bit the last couple of years just because he was playing away from the basket with Rudy [Gobert], but he’s always had great instincts and he’s long.
“He’s a lot longer than you think. He’s strong. He’s much stronger now than when I had him in Minnesota. He’s got great hands, too. If the ball’s near him, he’s getting it, and he’s going after everything. He’s playing at a very, very high level, but he can do more.”
When Towns returns, what does “more” look like?
“I don’t want to put, like, a ceiling on him,” Thibodeau said before Saturday’s game. “I want him to keep going, and I think that’s a big part of mental toughness is having to believe that you could always do things better. And I think he’s come in, he’s real hungry and his skill set’s unique.
“We’re seeing elite rebounding from him, the unselfishness. It’s not just the scoring, and he can score every way possible — from shooting the ball deep to putting it on the floor to playing back to the basket and facing up — but the passing and the defense as well. Just play an all-around game and play within the concept of the team, and I like that he’s doing that.”
Towns missed a game for only the second time this season after sitting out against the Nets on Nov. 15 with a bruised knee. He played 39:25 against Charlotte, the second-most minutes he has received in a single game this season.
Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff recognizes Towns’ greatness.
“KAT’s one of the best players in our league, right?” Bickerstaff said before the game. “He’s a well-rounded player, not just a pick-and-pop big, so to speak. There’s not much he can’t do on the floor, and I think [rebounding] just adds an extra dimension when you talk about how total his game is.”
Towns ignited the Madison Square Garden crowd on Thursday with a powerful dunk over Hornets forward Moussa Diabate, giving the Knicks a 19-point third-quarter lead after completing the three-point play.
“It’s magical, you know, to be here in the Mecca, to be here in MSG, to have the crowd react like that to a play that you make,” Towns said Thursday. “ . . . The fans, obviously, they love the highlight plays. But it’s all about wins here in New York, and for us to come out with a win is what they really want to see.”
Notes & quotes: Precious Achiuwa returned to the lineup Thursday after missing the first 21 games with a left hamstring strain. The 6-8 forward had two points, four rebounds and two fouls in 12 minutes. “For a first game, it’s about what I expected,” Thibodeau said before Saturday’s game. “His timing will come around as he goes more and more. There’s nothing you can do with rehab that can really replicate the intensity of the game.” . . . Cameron Payne missed his second straight game with left elbow effusion . . . The Knicks (14-8) entered Saturday’s game having won four straight and nine of 11.
Ben Dickson joined Newsday’s high school sports staff in 2023 after graduating from Maryland, where he covered several of the Terrapins' teams.
