Karl-Anthony Towns seems to be growing comfortable with new coach Mike Brown’s schemes. The Knicks big man racked up 33 points, 13 rebounds and five assists in a 119-102 victory over the Wizards on Monday.
“KAT was a monster. He was a monster on the glass, he was really good defensively, he was a monster inside, outside,” Brown said, per Kristian Winfield of the New York Daily News. “He’s starting to feel and find his rhythm in what we’re trying to do.”
Towns had scored fewer than 20 points in half of New York’s first six games.
“Really, we’re all figuring it out. Getting better every day, understanding what our roles are and what we’ve got to do,” Towns said. “It’s good, we’ve got two wins in a row but we’re obviously still a work in progress.”
We have more on the Knicks:
- Brown has trimmed the rotation to nine players in the past two games, Winfield notes. Against the Bulls on Sunday, Brown went with Josh Hart, Landry Shamet, Miles McBride and Jordan Clarkson off the bench. On Monday, with Mitchell Robinson sitting for load management purposes, Shamet moved into the lineup and Guerschon Yabusele played on the second unit. “The last two nights were the best I’ve done for them in terms of rotations. They kinda sorta knew when they were coming out or going in, who was going to play together,” Brown said.
- Robinson’s availability is somewhat of a mystery, Jared Schwartz of the New York Post writes. Robinson has only played a combined 33 minutes through the first seven games. Left ankle injury management is the club’s reasons for limiting his minutes and game appearances. Don’t expect that to change. “We’ll keep doing that throughout the course of the year. Whatever they tell me, I’m gonna do,” Brown said.
- Mikal Bridges‘ all-around game has been on display this season, Mike Vaccaro of the New York Post writes. He’s also been a lot more vocal in his second year with the club. Bridges, who signed a four-year extension in the offseason, is averaging 16.4 points, 5.4 rebounds, 5.3 assists and 1.4 steals.
- Despite hand and ankle injuries, Hart contributed 12 points with 10 rebounds and five assists in just 26 minutes on Monday. “Basically been banged up and hurt for what, three months?” Hart said, per Stefan Bondy of the New York Post. “Little frustrating, but it comes with the territory. It comes with being in a contact sport, so it is what it is.”
So wait – NY sports writers were wrong – 5 games isn’t enough to judge a new coach and his system? Imagine that.
They beat the bulls on a home and home series. Usually teams lose a game of that series. And the wizards come on. I need to see them. Verse OKC the Lakers, the Timberwolves the Spurs even Houston because those are the teams that they would be playing in the NBA finals. The East is pretty much a two-man race, even though I’m not sure if they can beat Milwaukee right now. We’ll have to see
Breakin news lol ……. All the drama.
U played the wizards that was leading the first quarter and they’re bunch of kids… lol!
Wonder if the Knicks are babying Robinson to lower the price on his next contract lol.
Watching KATs mins should help him play better D. Seems like the starting 5 still isn’t settled. It should be Hart till they trade Mitch. Considering Mitch has only played 33 mins in 7 gms so far. No reason to change last yrs 5 yet. Amazing what 2 wins does for the world. Always good to play at home.
Best things to take from this. Is KAT playing well. The bench playing well. And having a full squad again. Knicks have 5 more home gms. Time to get this team right. TWolves up next. Just one gm at a time. It’s a long season. Clarkson is starting to come along. Yet Yabusele is still working it out. We need everyone, let’s do this ………. NYK