Karl-Anthony Towns Rumors

Knicks, Spurs Advance To NBA Cup Final

December 14th, 2025 at 8:11am CST by Rory Maher

Behind game highs of 40 points and eight assists from star guard Jalen Brunson, the Knicks defeated the Magic by 12 points on Saturday in Las Vegas to advance to the final of the NBA Cup, also known as the in-season tournament.

“When you have an MVP of the league candidate in Jalen Brunson, you know, 16-for-27, 40 points, he makes the game easier for everybody,” head coach Mike Brown said, per Vincent Goodwill of ESPN. “That’s what MVPs are supposed to do, and he definitely did that tonight.”

Karl-Anthony Towns (29 points on 9-of-11 shooting, nine rebounds) and OG Anunoby (24 points on 8-of-13 shooting, six rebounds, four assists, three steals) were among the other standouts for New York.

Jalen Suggs led Orlando with 26 points and seven assists, but he was forced to leave the game in the third quarter due to a left hip injury.

The other semifinal matchup featured San Antonio and Oklahoma City. The Spurs emerged with a two-point victory over the defending champions, ending the Thunder’s 16-game winning streak in the process.

As Michael C. Wright of ESPN.com details, while four Spurs finished with 20-plus points, the primary takeaway from the game was the play of big man Victor Wembanyama, who was making his first appearance in a month after missing the past 12 games due to a left calf strain. Coming off the bench for the first time in his career, the French star finished with 22 points, nine rebounds and two blocks, with San Antonio outscoring OKC by 21 points in his 21 minutes.

“It’s our first time playing [with] everybody [healthy],” Wembanyama said. “We were already a solid team already more than 20 games ago. It’s just experience. We’re just figuring it out. And the difference with us and [Oklahoma City] is we haven’t had this many reps recognizing what it takes to win. And this is our next step.

“This OKC team, they’re not just first in the league. They’re way ahead of everybody. And when you watch them, no matter who, whether it’s the 12th man or the starting five, whether they’re playing against the 15th seed or any kind of game, they’re playing the same way. They’re enjoying the little things that make them win, and this is the next step we have to pass.”

The final between New York and San Antonio will take place Tuesday at 7:30 pm CT in Las Vegas, the NBA announced (via Twitter). Both teams are currently 18-7.

Magic, Knicks Advance To Cup Semifinals

December 9th, 2025 at 10:30pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Magic and Knicks advanced to the NBA Cup semifinals in Las Vegas with victories on Tuesday. They’ll face each other in the East semifinal on Saturday at 5:30 ET, the league confirmed (via Twitter).

Orlando was carried by a big outing from offseason acquisition Desmond Bane. He scored 37 points, while Jalen Suggs added 20 points and Paolo Banchero supplied 18. The Magic trailed by 13 after the first quarter, pulled within one by halftime, then outscored Miami 61-51 in the second half.

The Heat had four starters with at least 19 points, led by Norman Powell‘s 21.

The Knicks moved on with a 117-101 win over the Raptors. Jalen Brunson was the star of the game with 35 points. Josh Hart contributed 21 points and Karl-Anthony Towns tossed in 14 with 16 rebounds. Brandon Ingram led the Raptors with 31 points.

New York took control in the second quarter, outscoring Toronto 34-13.

The teams that were eliminated on Tuesday will now play each other on Monday, as the Heat will host the Raptors at 7:30 ET, Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press tweets.

The Suns and Thunder will square off in the first of the Western Conference quarterfinals on Wednesday, with the Lakers and Spurs playing in the late game. The winners of those two contests will face one another in the West semifinal on Saturday.

Knicks Notes: NBA Cup, McBride, Towns, Bridges, Anunoby

December 8th, 2025 at 10:05pm CST by Rory Maher

While Josh Hart says the pressure of the NBA Cup is “not even close” to competing in the playoffs, he and the rest of the Knicks are focused on winning their first in-season tournament title after being eliminated in the quarterfinals each of the past two years, writes Stefan Bondy of The New York Post (subscriber link).

“Every year, we fell short at this stage,” Hart said. “So we got to get over that hump.”

The Knicks open the knockout stage at Toronto on Tuesday. If they win, they’ll advance the semifinal and face the winner of Miami vs. Orlando in Las Vegas on Saturday.

“Life is short. And this is how I look at it — you want excitement in your life. So you try to put yourselves in position when you have pressure at times,” head coach Mike Brown said. “That’s something that, if you’re a competitor and you want some excitement in your life, you embrace it. And one of our standards is having a competitive spirit. So all of our guys. Especially as you go along and advance, you should embrace any type of pressure that comes along with it.

“And it also helps you prepare for times down the road when you’re put in the same situation. So in the regular season, this is about as close as you can get to simulating a playoff run. So we try to talk about it and add more pressure to it and handle it the right way and see if we can go get it.”

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Miles McBride, who sustained a left ankle injury in Sunday’s win over Orlando and underwent an MRI on Monday, has been diagnosed with a sprain and will miss Tuesday’s game, according to Bondy (Twitter links). The 25-year-old guard was spotted in a walking boot earlier in the day, Bondy adds. Karl-Anthony Towns, who was ruled out of Sunday’s contest due to left calf tightness, is questionable for the matchup against the Raptors.
Mikal Bridges and OG Anunoby are both worthy of legitimate consideration for their first All-Star appearances, contends James L. Edwards III of The Athletic. As Edwards explains, the Knicks are currently the No. 2 seed in the East, and if that continues, they’ll be deserving of having multiple All-Stars. Anunoby was arguably New York’s second-best player to open the season, but he missed nine games with a hamstring strain, leaving Bridges as the stronger candidate as of now. While neither player puts up gaudy offensive stats, they’ve both been highly efficient on that end on top of being top-notch defenders, Edwards writes. “He’s impacting winning,” Hart said of Bridges. “He plays both sides of the ball. Defensively, he’s been amazing. He’s been an All-Defense player for us.”
The Knicks improved to 13-1 at home with Sunday’s victory, notes Mike Vaccaro of The New York Post (subscription required), and that edge at Madison Square Garden could be an important factor in the playoffs for a team with championship aspirations. “We’ve done a great job of protecting our home court,” Hart said after contributing 17 points, 12 rebounds and two steals Sunday. “This should be the hardest place to play in the NBA, and we want teams to know that.”

Knicks’ Miles McBride Being Evaluated For Left Ankle Injury

December 7th, 2025 at 3:22pm CST by Rory Maher

Knicks guard Miles McBride was injured in the third quarter of Sunday’s win over Orlando, per James L. Edwards III of The Athletic (Twitter links).

New York Basketball has a video of the play (Twitter link). McBride drove into the lane and was fouled by Desmond Bane on a left-handed layup attempt. Bane’s left foot appeared to land on McBride’s left ankle.

McBride was able to get up on his own and stayed in to shoot two free throws, according to Edwards, but quickly asked to be subbed out and had a noticeable limp.

The Knicks announced after the game that McBride was being evaluated for a left ankle injury, with another update to come on Monday, tweets Ian Begley of SNY.tv.

As Michael Scotto of HoopsHype reports (via Twitter), McBride had an X-ray on his left ankle, which was negative. The 25-year-old will undergo an MRI tomorrow, Scotto adds.

The former second-round pick is off to a strong start to the season, averaging 12.0 points, 2.6 rebounds and 2.5 assists while shooting 46.2% from long distance through 19 appearances (27.3 minutes per game).

In other Knicks injury news, Karl-Anthony Towns was ruled out of Sunday’s game with left calf tightness after initially being considered questionable (Twitter link via Barbara Barker of Newsday). Towns’ ailment — which appeared to be bothering him during Friday’s win over Utah, according to Jared Schwartz of The New York Post — doesn’t seem “too serious,” says Edwards (via Twitter).

Atlantic Notes: Towns, MPJ, Thomas, Quickley, Barrett

December 2nd, 2025 at 9:09pm CST by Rory Maher

Big man Karl-Anthony Towns recently made it very clear he hopes to keep playing for the Knicks for the foreseeable future, according to Stefan Bondy of The New York Post.

“Hell yeah, hell yeah. I want to stay here,” Towns said. “Obviously get a chance to be home, see my family. It means more than the money, you know. So just to be able to be here with the fans, be with the family. It means a lot. I would like it to continue.”

As Bondy writes, Towns was eligible for a two-year extension before the season began, but there was “no traction” on a new deal. The five-time All-Star is under contract through at least 2026/27, with a $61MM player option for ’27/28, so there wasn’t much urgency to extend Towns from New York’s perspective.

That may change next summer, however, since Towns will again be extension-eligible and could be a free agent in 2027 if he declines that option. The 30-year-old forward/center says he has a strong relationship with the team’s front office, Bondy adds.

“Me, (team president Leon Rose) and (Senior VP of basketball operations Gersson Rosas) and everyone, we’re great,” Towns said. “I’ll go have lunch with them right now. We’re good.”

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After missing two games with lower back tightness, Nets forward Michael Porter Jr. returned to action on Monday and produced one of his best games of the season, finishing with 35 points, seven rebounds, four assists and two steals in 36 minutes during the victory over Charlotte, notes C.J. Holmes of The New York Daily News. As Lucas Kaplan of NetDaily.com writes, Porter has thrived in head coach Jordi Fernandez‘s offensive system, putting up career-best statistics as Brooklyn’s top scoring option. “Well, I think Jordi — he’s a genius of a coach,” Porter said. “You know, we’re a young team, we’re going to keep growing, but he’s a genius in terms of the schemes that he puts out, especially offensively for me. The way teams are guarding me, really just face-guarding me and trying not to let me catch the ball, the different creative ways that Jordi has our team running plays to help me get touches and get looks off is really next level. He’s making it so easy for me to play my game. So I really have to thank just Jordi and the offensive coaching staff for how I’ve been able to produce.”
Nets guard Cam Thomas, who is three-plus weeks removed from straining his left hamstring, will undergo an MRI in the next few days to determine how the injury is healing, as Brian Lewis of The New York Post relays. “He’s getting an MRI at the end of the week, and then when we get the reads [on it], then we’ll give you guys an update. We’ll let you know when that happens,” Fernandez said. Thomas was limited to just 25 games last season after straining the same hamstring multiple times.
Immanuel Quickley and RJ Barrett have improved multiple aspects of their games since they were traded from the Knicks to the Raptors nearly two years ago, writes Kristian Winfield of The New York Daily News. Both players have gotten stronger and are in better shape, and Toronto head coach Darko Rajakovic also pointed to specific basketball improvements. “Immanuel improved his defense on the ball dramatically. He’s one of the best defensive players that we have now on the ball. Also very disruptive with his hands,” Rajakovic said. “RJ’s shot selection is a little bit different. He’s getting much more to the rim, he’s doing catch-and-shoot 3s, he’s scoring more off cuts. Those two guys — they’re investing a lot in their individual and personal development and that’s affecting our whole team.”
Barrett, who is currently out with a knee sprain, still isn’t doing on-court work yet but his knee is getting better and the Raptors forward is considered day-to-day, tweets Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca.

Nikola Jokic, Cade Cunningham Earn Player Of The Month Honors

December 2nd, 2025 at 2:46pm CST by Luke Adams

Nuggets center Nikola Jokic and Pistons guard Cade Cunningham are the NBA’s Players of the Month for October/November, earning the honor for the Western and Eastern Conference, respectively, per an announcement from the league (Twitter link).

It’s the ninth time that Jokic has won a Player of the Month award over the course of his 11-year career. He earned it in this case with a superlative start to the season that saw him comfortably average a triple-double – 28.9 points, 12.4 rebounds, and 10.9 assists per game – while leading Denver to a 14-5 record.

Jokic’s shooting percentages were arguably even more remarkable than his per-game averages, as he shot 63.7% from the field and converted 45.3% of his three-point attempts.

The Nuggets star came out on top of a competitive field that included nominees like fellow MVP candidates Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the Thunder and Luka Doncic of the Lakers. Clippers guard James Harden, Rockets center Alperen Sengun, Trail Blazers forward Deni Avdija, Lakers guard Austin Reaves, and Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards were also nominated for Player of the Month in the West, according to the NBA (Twitter link).

In the East, meanwhile, Cunningham’s Pistons have been one of the most pleasant surprises of the season’s first six weeks. While Detroit was viewed as a strong playoff contender, few NBA observers expected the team to win 16 of its first 20 games and sit atop the Eastern Conference at the end of November.

Cunningham was the driving force behind the Pistons’ hot start, averaging 28.8 points, 9.4 assists, and 6.4 rebounds in 36.8 minutes per game across 17 outings, while shooting 45.6% from the floor and 81.5% from the free throw line.

Raptors forward Scottie Barnes, Celtics wing Jaylen Brown, Bulls guard Josh Giddey, Hawks forward Jalen Johnson, Sixers guard Tyrese Maxey, Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell, Heat guard Norman Powell, Magic forward Franz Wagner, and Knicks teammates Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns were also nominated for Eastern Conference Player of the Month, which Cunningham won for the first time in his career.

Knicks Notes: Home Record, Hart, Robinson, Brunson

November 30th, 2025 at 11:25pm CST by Rory Maher

The Knicks cruised to a 22-point victory over Toronto on Sunday and are now 10-1 at Madison Square Garden this season, writes Stefan Bondy of The New York Post. Big man Karl-Anthony Towns, who led a balanced offensive attack with a team-high 22 points, was quick to credit the home fans for the team’s success.

“Our fans make playing at home so fun, and the support they give us and energy they give us is priceless, so 10-1 — of course we want to give the fans the best product, the best version of ourselves every single night,” Towns said. “But it’s really the fans that bring out the best in us and shout-outs to them. They’ve carried us to the finish line many more than just home games.”

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Veteran wing Josh Hart has been playing his best basketball of the season since OG Anunoby went down with a hamstring strain. In the seven games leading up to Sunday, Hart averaged 14.6 points, 9.4 rebounds, 6.7 assists and 1.7 steals in 34.1 minutes per night, with a shooting slash line of .521/.385/.783. He had an excellent all-around outing Sunday, finishing with 20 points, 12 rebounds, seven assists and three steals two days after recording 19 points, 15 rebounds, seven assists and three steals in the win over Milwaukee. “Josh, he’s a baller,” head coach Mike Brown said after Friday’s game, per Jared Schwartz of The New York Post. “It doesn’t matter what you throw in front of him, he just goes and balls out. That’s what you love about him. He just gets it done in any role that you give him. He’s shown he can help you coming off the bench, he’s definitely shown he can help you as a starter. He’s playing high-level basketball.”
Hart has made a strong case to stay in the starting lineup when Anunoby eventually returns, according to Ian Begley of SNY.tv. Brown said he’s been pleased with Mitchell Robinson‘s performance as a member of the second unit. “I’ve liked what I’ve seen so far,” Brown said after Robinson’s six points, seven rebounds and two steals off the bench Friday. “Mitch has given us a great punch off the bench. His ability to offensive rebound against starters and backups has been huge for us. So he has to keep bringing that to the table. So he gives us a different look in the starting lineup and then gives us a different look when he comes off the bench.”
Brown thinks star point guard Jalen Brunson belongs in the Most Valuable Player conversation, Begley adds. “He should be talked about right now — it’s early — but as a potential MVP,” Brown said Friday. “There’s not enough chatter — which, it’s early, so I’m not throwing a fit — but the guy had 37 tonight on 12-of-21. And he gets blitzed often and he makes the right basketball play. He basically did what he was supposed to do and that’s why I don’t talk about it a lot because that’s what he’s capable of doing and that’s what he’s supposed to do, being of that stature.”

Knicks Notes: Starting Five, Hart, NBA Cup, Point Guard

November 28th, 2025 at 9:57am CST by Luke Adams

During the first few weeks of the 2025/26 season, Mike Brown‘s preferred starting lineup for the Knicks featured Jalen Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns, Mikal Bridges, OG Anunoby, and Mitchell Robinson, with Landry Shamet stepping in when Anunoby went down with a hamstring strain.

With Shamet now sidelined due to an injury of his own, Anunoby still recovering, and Robinson no longer treated as an every-game starter, Brown said this week that he plans to stick for now with a smaller starting five that features Josh Hart and Miles McBride alongside Brunson, Towns, and Bridges, per Stefan Bondy of The New York Post. The Knicks used that group in victories over Brooklyn on Monday and Charlotte on Wednesday.

“[I’ll] continue to stay with it to see what direction it goes,” Brown said. “Everything is fluid in this business. Anything can happen at any time.”

Brunson said there’s “obviously chemistry” among those five players, who were the Knicks’ most-used players besides Anunoby last season. Bondy, meanwhile, argues that it’s probably the team’s fastest and most offensively talented lineup until Anunoby is ready to return.

Still, the numbers don’t suggest it’s been the Knicks’ best lineup so far. In 35 minutes together, that Brunson-Towns-Bridges-Hart-McBride group has a net rating of -10.3.

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After averaging 23.7 minutes in his first 10 outings this season, Hart has logged 33.2 MPG in his past six appearances — more importantly, he’s seeing more action in fourth quarters. Brown acknowledged on Wednesday that keeping Hart on the bench for a couple fourth quarters earlier in the month was a mistake, Bondy writes. “I’ll be the first to say that wasn’t the right thing to do because he does so many great things for us and our group and our coaching staff,” Brown said. “And obviously as time has gone on, we’ve gotten a better feel for how we’re going to play him and he’s got a better feel, too. But back then he obviously could’ve b—hed or complained or threw a fit. He didn’t. And he continued to believe in the process, even though what I was doing was wrong at the time.”
Hart was robbed of $185K in watches and jewelry in September, according to a report from Amanda Woods, Estrella McDaniel, and Matt Troutman of The New York Post. The theft occurred at a New York City hotel on September 5 when Hart, who was in town for a podcast event, was out of his room.
With a win over Milwaukee on Friday, the Knicks will clinch the top spot in their NBA Cup group and become the only team to advance to the knockout round in three straight years. The team is taking that opportunity seriously, according to Brown. “Yes, we talk about [the NBA Cup],” the Knicks’ head coach said, per Bondy. “I think in life, pressure is a privilege, so you try to manufacture it from time to time. I think if you’re in a situation where there is pressure, you’re doing pretty good because obviously if you’re competitive you’re going to put pressure on yourself no matter what. So trying to feel it from the outside a little bit as much as you can is a privilege and it gets you ready for the postseason, in my opinion, so I bring it up to our guys.”
Hart suggested that the NBA Cup champion should be awarded a half-win to give that team the tiebreaker advantage in the regular season standings at season’s end, according to Bondy. As it stands, the NBA Cup championship game doesn’t count at all toward the regular season, so the only incentive is the prize money at stake. “For me, that’ll be watch money,” Hart joked.
Ian Begley of SNY.tv (YouTube link) fields a handful of Knicks-related questions in his latest video mailbag, including a couple about the team’s likely priorities at the trade deadline — Begley believes a reliable backup point guard will be at the top of New York’s wish list.

Knicks Notes: Hart, McBride, Towns, Shamet, Robinson

November 24th, 2025 at 11:04pm CST by Luke Adams

Entering Monday’s matchup with Brooklyn, the Knicks had lost three of their past five games and had allowed 123 points per contest during that stretch. As Stefan Bondy of The New York Post wrote ahead of Monday’s game, a lack of on-ball defensive stoppers has been an issue, especially with OG Anunoby sidelined due to a hamstring strain.

“I’m confident we can be where we need to defensively,” head coach Mike Brown said on Sunday. “We played well in some instances and we haven’t played well. That’s what you go through especially during this part of the year. So I do think we can be a really good defensive team, but again, no matter who we throw out there, we’ve gotta have a feel and understanding of what we’re trying to do on that end of the floor to get things done.”

The Knicks got Miles McBride back on Monday following a one-game absence due to an illness and inserted him into the lineup alongside forward Josh Hart, who got his first start of the season as part of a smaller starting five, Bondy tweets. The result was exactly what Brown wanted to see — New York held the Nets to 100 points en route to a victory, with Hart recognized as the team’s defensive player of the game, per James L. Edwards III of The Athletic (Twitter link).

Brown told reporters after the win that he was pleased with the way Hart spoke after Saturday’s loss about the Knicks needing to change their mentality on defense, then backed up those comments with his performance against Brooklyn.

“That’s what leadership is about,” Brown said.

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Karl-Anthony Towns‘ 14-of-20 performance against Brooklyn on Monday was easily his best shooting night of the season. The 37-point outburst was an important development for a star “in desperate need of reprieve,” according to Kristian Winfield of The New York Daily News, who wonders if the game could be a turning point for Towns. The big man entered the night averaging 21.7 PPG on .429/.318/.877 shooting.
The Knicks have yet to share an update on Landry Shamet‘s diagnosis after he left Saturday’s game with a shoulder injury. As Bondy writes for The New York Post, if Shamet dislocated his shoulder like he did a year ago, he may have to decide whether to undergo potential season-ending surgery or try to return sooner by going the non-surgical route again. “Obviously, we know how valuable he is,” Mikal Bridges said of the reserve guard. “But it’s next guy. Next guy has to step up. A lot of guys in the locker room that’s ready. Just next man up, honestly.”
Brown recently told reporters that Mitchell Robinson‘s agent has been involved in the load management plan for the veteran center this season. Bondy explores what that means for Robinson, who is in a contract year and will be an unrestricted free agent next summer if he doesn’t sign an extension before then.
Fred Katz and James L. Edwards III of The Athletic share their early-season impressions on the Knicks, including evaluating the job that Brown has done with the team so far. Edwards likes the way in which Brown has empowered some second-unit players, while Katz says it’ll take more time to assess the new head coach’s impact, since he has spent the first few weeks of the season experimenting with his lineups and personnel.

Knicks Notes: Hart, Brunson, Shamet, Diawara, Towns, More

November 22nd, 2025 at 3:59pm CST by Rory Maher

Knicks wing Josh Hart had the best year of his career in 2024/25 playing under Tom Thibodeau, starting 77 games while leading the NBA in minutes per game (37.6) and posting career highs in rebounds (9.6), assists (5.9) and steals (1.5) as well as his second-best averages in points (13.6) and field goal percentage (52.5).

While his per-36 averages are very similar to last season’s, Hart is coming off the bench and playing far fewer minutes (25.8 MPG) in ’25/26 under new head coach Mike Brown, writes Kristian Winfield of The New York Daily News. Hart’s reduced role is partly due to being hampered by back spasms during the preseason, and his workload has increased lately with OG Anunoby out with a hamstring strain.

“I hope [I play more],” Hart said before Wednesday’s win in Dallas. “Before [Anunoby] went down, I think I was playing the least minutes of my career.”

According to Winfield, the 30-year-old concedes he keeps tabs on his minutes — but only when he’s angry.

“When I’m mad, yeah,” Hart said. “But I’m ready to have to always do what needs to be done to help the team get wins.”

For his part, Brown has nothing but good things to say about Hart.

“They’re not the same player, but he’s such a glue piece like Andre Iguodala was in Golden State,” Brown said. “He just ties everything and anybody together. He does so many things out there that are just really simple that makes the game easier for everybody… And he can definitely do that for us and probably play more minutes, but at the end of the day, we have a good team, and I’m gonna try to spread [the minutes] around as best I can.”

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Hart recently told Stefan Bondy of The New York Post (subscriber link) that he tried to find a way to to land with the Wizards during his 2021 restricted free agency because of his respect for Russell Westbrook, who was a member of the team at the time. “His competitiveness, his passion — he’s one of the guys I definitely admire,” Hart said. Bondy’s story is centered on Hart being the top rebounder in the league for his size.
After missing two games with a Grade 1 right ankle sprain, star point guard Jalen Brunson returned to action on Wednesday and helped lead the Knicks to a victory against his former team, per Steve Popper of Newsday (subscription required). The two-time All-NBA member recorded 28 points, five assists and three rebounds in 35 minutes during the two-point win.
Brown didn’t personally know Landry Shamet prior to landing the Knicks job, but he had long admired the veteran sharpshooter’s game and “pushed” to keep him on the roster before the ’25/26 campaign began, Bondy reports (subscriber link). Brown’s decision is looking shrewd in the early going, Bondy writes, as Shamet — who is on a non-guaranteed contract — has thrived under his new coach. “I was a big fan of him, watching [him] play last year and even prior, and so it was, for me, having him a part of this team, completed the group,” Brown said. “Now we have a lot of diverse guys. He’s just doing, in my opinion, what he’s capable of doing.”
Brown’s management of the bench has been paying dividends so far in ’25/26, according to James L. Edwards III of The Athletic. “It’s so early in the season, the reality of it is that I don’t want to gas my guys this early in the season,” Brown said. “If the minutes can be respectable across the board, especially at this time of the year, then we can increase the minutes come playoff time or late in the season. Getting these guys reps in case (*knocks on wood*) someone gets hurt or in case we have to throw someone in the game. There is a comfort level that they have, and not only that they have, but I have, the staff has and everybody else has with someone new on the floor.”
Brown says he’d like to find more playing time for French forward Mohamed Diawara, having praised the rookie for his contributions over the past couple games (story via Bondy). “I would’ve loved to play Mo out there a little longer,” Brown said after Diawara played two minutes in Wednesday’s win. “Mo has done a great job in short minutes he played and to try to get him some minutes during this time of year, especially while OG is out, to keep us long and athletic would be ideal. And I’m going to keep searching to try to do it.”
While Karl-Anthony Towns is off to a slow start in Brown’s offensive system, he says he’s “having fun with it” and is confident his subpar percentages will normalize over time, as Winfield relays. “I want to find different ways to impact this team winning, and just continue to figure everything out. We all are,” Towns said. “So definitely on my part, I could do a better job hitting some shots. But I’ll get to that. Numbers will always number out. So I’m just staying confident.”
In a mailbag article, Ian Begley of SNY.tv predicts the Knicks will prioritize finding a backup point guard prior to the trade deadline. He also expects the front office to have conversations with the Mavericks in the coming weeks to discover their asking price for Anthony Davis.