Knicks' Karl-Anthony Towns still trying to get his bearings
Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns looks on against the Washington Wizards in the second half of an NBA preseason game at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
GREENBURGH — The last two weeks have been a whirlwind for Karl-Anthony Towns and still are. He made his Madison Square Garden debut as a member of the Knicks on Wednesday and continues to search for a place to live. With his former Minnesota Timberwolves teammates set to arrive for a Sunday evening preseason game, he's still living out of a suitcase.
After Friday’s practice, he was asked if things had started to slow down for him and enthusiastically replied, “No, no. What is this, like my fourth day in New York really? It’s like my fourth day in New York . . . Just taking the punches as they come.”
The next punch — the reunion — is not really a problem. It’s just strange for Towns, coming so soon after the trade while he spent a week on the road for training camp and is trying to come to terms with being back in the area where he grew up.
“Weird,” he said. “Yeah, it’s going to be a weird feeling. It’s the business. It’s the game. Got to go out there and compete at a high level. But like I said, it’s just going to be weird. It’s going to be weird being on the other side but seeing the Timberwolves jersey.”
"That’s why it’s so important to establish routines, because in the NBA, there’s something almost every night,” coach Tom Thibodeau said. “So you don’t want to get caught up in the hoopla. Just focus in on, ‘OK, this is how I get ready to play,’ and you go step by step. Don’t get distracted. And it’s easy to get distracted. There’s a million things going on in this league all the time. Guys change teams all the time. Just be locked into what you have to do to help your team win.”
Towns said he has been in touch with the Timberwolves' Anthony Edwards regularly and made sure to wish Mike Conley happy birthday on Friday.
When Towns was first asked about the trade on media day, he said he was “flabbergasted,” and that still hasn’t worn off.
“That’s a good word, huh?” he said. “The kids that were watching that, saw that, they’re going to use that in the SAT.
“Even at dinner — last night me and my girlfriend were having dinner. She looked at me and she just tapped me on the shoulder and she said, ‘Can you really believe this is our life now?’ And we’re both still in shock. It’s definitely still there. I’m having moments where even for me being on social media, very rare times that I do, or I’m getting a Timberwolves update on my phone and I’m kind of confused by a lot of things. So I’m just going with the flow right now.”
After the reunion, getting to see players with whom Towns became close friends during his nine seasons with the Timberwolves, he can focus his attention on acclimating to his new team and continuing to develop an on-court chemistry with Jalen Brunson and the rest of his new teammates.
After shooting 2-for-7 in the preseason opener at Charlotte, he missed his first seven shots from the field in his Garden debut. But he eventually got on track, particularly in the third quarter, when he and Brunson seemed to run some version of a two-man game together almost every time. Towns scored 16 of his 25 points in that quarter and Brunson had three assists.
“Just seeing what the defense is doing, how they’re playing defense against me and our guards,” Towns said. “Just making the correct decision. Me and JB last game, we did a great job, especially in the third quarter, utilizing the pick-and-pop and pick-and-roll. And that was just all feel, both of us knowing each other, growing with each other, building chemistry. We’re going to continue to do that every single day.
“I’ve always watched him from afar,'' Towns said of Brunson. "I’ve been a fan of his game. I think that he’s one of the most talented players in this league. Honored to be able to play with him. Nothing has really surprised me because my respect for him has already been tremendously high.”
Steve Popper covers the Knicks for Newsday. He has spent nearly three decades covering the Knicks and the NBA, along with just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
