Knicks' Karl-Anthony Towns showing some swagger and a presence on defense

DETROIT — After scoring on a tough shot under the rim and drawing a foul on the play in the closing minutes in Miami on Wednesday night, Karl-Anthony Towns turned from the lane and flexed, a show of strength as he capped  a 44-point, 13-rebound effort against the Heat and Bam Adebayo,  their all-defensive team center.

It may have seemed out of character for Towns, but it also may be a sign that he is adapting to more than just new teammates and a new style of play in New York.

When the Knicks made the trade for Towns just ahead of training camp, adding it to the deal for Mikal Bridges during the summer, there was no doubt that the franchise had upped the talent level of the starting lineup. But there were legitimate questions about whether they had lost something, too.

In giving up Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo, they had surrendered a pair of hard-nosed veterans  willing to mix it up in the paint and play with a style that recalled the Knicks teams of decades earlier, the ones who would dress in black sneakers and shave their heads as a sign of intimidation.

No one is shaving their heads here now, but maybe not all of that swagger has been lost.

“They’re different, obviously,” J.B. Bickerstaff said before his Pistons fell behind 69-46 in the first half (after trailing by 33) against the Knicks on Friday night, with Jalen Brunson  (26), Towns (16) and OG Anunoby totaling 55 points in the half. “Adding guys like Towns, Bridges, it gives them a different dynamic of guys who can individually impact the game at a high level. Both of those guys are capable of having big nights.

“But I think what they’ve done is they’ve kept the heart and soul of the team, and their spirit is the same. I think losing DiVincenzo was a little bit of a change. I thought he did a great job for them as well. But having the Josh Harts of the world, the Jalen Brunsons of the world, they keep that fight and spirit that gives them an opportunity and is kind of what they’re known for and they’re able to keep the defensive identity with  Anunoby and Bridges as two-way players. They’re always going to be well-coached. [Tom Thibodeau] does a great job with his teams. But that mindset of who they are, I don’t think that changed with the personnel changes.”

The dynamics of the team still may be set by returning starters Brunson and Hart  along with Anunoby, who played only 23 regular-season games for the Knicks last season after arriving in a midseason trade. But for the style to remain in place, the new pieces have to join in. And maybe Wednesday was a sign that Towns is a different player than when he first came in the league and played for Thibodeau in Minnesota.

“Every year is different, and everybody starts over,” Thibodeau said. “Sometimes you bring back the exact same guys and it’s different. So you have to start at a zero base and go from there. We have a lot of work to do, as do all of the teams in the league. The teams that can make that commitment to do it day after day do improve.”

It hasn’t just been the scoring and aggressiveness — and flexing — for Towns. He is becoming the vocal leader on defense, calling out screens and schemes from the back line.

“KAT, his improvement from Game 1 to now,” Bridges said. “Only been a couple games, but his improvement — because you know the big is in a lot of actions, so hearing him with the ball-screen coverage has made everybody and personally me just better on the ball because I know there’s a screen.

“You go back to the last game and growth and day by day, game by game. You see in the Miami game, having the same situation with Cleveland with at one point being up and then being down and how you’re going to react. And I think we came out and just went straight to it. Covering up for each other. There was a lot of team defense and helping each other out. Maybe somebody gets blown by, and maybe even if it’s not your rotation and just pulling out the fire just stepping up and help your teammate out on that.”

By Steve Popper

steve.popper@newsday.com@StevePopper

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.