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Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns shoots for a reverse layup against...

Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns shoots for a reverse layup against the Denver Nuggets in the first half of an NBA game at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke

When Karl-Anthony Towns looks back at some of the biggest games of his career, one name often comes to mind.

Nikola Jokic, Denver’s three-time MVP center, is the kind of rival who brings out the best in Towns.

Towns spent the first nine seasons of his NBA playing career in the Western Conference with the Timberwolves before being traded to the Knicks just before the start of this season.

The two All-Star big men have had their battles over the years, mostly notably in Game 7 of the Western Conference semifinals last season. It was Towns’ defense on Jokic and his emphatic putback dunk in the final minute of the game that put an exclamation point on the come-from-behind win that sent Minnesota to the conference finals.

Wednesday night’s game at Madison Square Garden marked the 25th regular-season game between the two men. In the previous 24, Towns averaged 24.2 points, 11.1 rebounds and 3.8 assists. Jokic posted 19.0 points, 10.3 boards and 5.9 assists.

It was clear from his comments earlier in the week, Towns was looking forward to the meeting again.

“Obviously, he’s a tremendous talent and I’ve been very fortunate to be a part of this game of basketball with him for all these years,” Towns said of Jokic. “So, it’s always great when you get to play the best and he for sure is one of the best we’ve seen.”

Wednesday night’s game was the second time the two have met with Towns wearing a Knicks uniform.

The first time, the Knicks surprised almost everyone when they handed the Nuggets their most lopsided loss of the season with a 145-118 win in Denver in November. That game featured a career-high 40 points from OG Anunoby and 30 points from Towns, who shot 12-for-15 from the floor. Jokic, who had missed the previous three games after his wife gave birth, was not his usual overpowering self and finished with 22 points and seven assists.

This game, however, was seen as an even bigger measuring stick for Towns and the Knicks, who entered the game on a four-game winning streak that included having scored 143 points against both Sacramento and Memphis in their last two games.

“Look at what they did their last two games averaging 143 and making 17 threes in both games,” Denver coach Michael Malone said of the Knicks before the game. “They score 20 a night in transition and 64 in the paint and dominated the offensive glass. They are impacting the game across so many levels. Sometimes it’s like they are going to run you out of the gym. . . . I don’t see a weakness. And that’s always scary when you are about to play a team that is playing that well.”

The Nuggets entered the game having lost two in a row despite the fact that Jokic has been enjoying his best season statistically and would be headed to yet another MVP if Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander wasn’t having the year he is having.

The 6-11 Jokic is posting career highs in scoring (30.0 points per game) and assists (10.2) while hauling down 13.1 rebounds per appearance. He is on pace to be only the third player in NBA history to average a triple-double in one season, joining Oscar Robertson (1961-62) and Russell Westbrook, who managed that feat four times in five seasons from 2016-21 and is now Jokic’s teammate.

Where do you want to start?” Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said when asked about Jokic’s impact before the game. “It’s just everything. He’s a 7-footer with great touch, an unbelievable passer. He has a great understanding of the game, thinks on his feet, makes them play fast. There’s no holes in his game, really. He has the ability to make everyone around him a lot better, as well. And he plays to win.”

How big is Jokic’s presence? Knicks fans saw that early in the first quarter. After Jokic picked up his second foul just minutes into the game, Malone sent him to the bench and the Knicks went on a 13-0 run.

Towns knows that every moment Jokic is on the floor is a moment when Denver can just take off and he was looking forward to the challenge once again.

“Joker is a hell of a player,’” Towns said on Paul George’s podcast. “It’s so fun to get to play against him. I feel like I learn a little something every time we play against each other. Shout out to him. He made me better.”

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