Karl-Anthony Towns flashes his Knicks potential in mixed preseason debut

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Tom Thibodeau’s centers didn’t do that before.

On his second shot in a Knicks uniform Sunday, Karl-Anthony Towns pulled up from 27 feet and buried a 3-pointer, the first glimpse at both the range and confidence of New York’s star 7-footer.

However, Towns struggled with his shot after that conversion.

He missed 4 of 5 3-pointers and finished with 10 points in 15 minutes as the Knicks beat the Hornets in their preseason opener, 111-109.

Wearing a 1999 Spurs-Knicks NBA Finals shirt in the locker room following the game — an item Towns picked up at a vintage store in Charleston, S.C., during training camp — the 28-year-old didn’t want to put a timeline on building an on-court connection with his teammates.

Why?

“I’ve never had to do it before,” said Towns, who, up until Sunday, played his entire career with the Timberwolves. “So for me everyday, brick by brick, building something special, learning each other. Learning each other’s tendencies.”

The Knicks unveiled their entire high-profile starting five on Sunday, with Jalen Brunson at point guard, OG Anunoby, Josh Hart and Mikal Bridges on the wings, and Towns at center.

Brunson, playing his first game as Knicks captain, was the lineup’s leading scorer and a typically crafty ball handler, scoring 12 points on 5 of 11 shooting with three assists.

He and Towns accounted for 22 of the starters’ 30 points.

The group played less than a half, so the sample size remains minuscule.

But it was sloppy enough for Thibodeau to prescribe “a lot of work.”

“Some good, some bad. Obviously a lot of work to do,” the coach said. “I figured it would be a little choppy. There’s a lot of areas that we need to clean up but there was some good as well.”

The coach said communication was an issue.

“Some of it was directing the ball to the proper area,” he said. “That’s communication. We can clean that up and we have to clean that up.”

Brunson and the players were more positive about the performance, even if there’s an understanding that chemistry with Towns will require many more reps.

Towns was just cleared for camp Wednesday night after a complicated trade negotiation.

“It’s definitely going to take time,” Brunson said. “But when people are willing to do whatever it takes to try to win, it’s going to flow at some point. We talk consistently. And we’re on the same page. And we’re excited that we’re teammates now.”

Bridges, also making his Knicks debut after being traded by the Nets, attempted only five shots with four points.

He drew the toughest defensive assignment in Charlotte’s LaMelo Ball.

Thibodeau just wanted reps.

“I think it’s important for us because Mikal obviously is new, KAT hasn’t played with these guys, and OG played in a very limited amount of time,” Thibodeau said. “Basically you’ve got a new starting five that has to get acclimated to playing together. And then we have a different bench, too, so those guys have to get some work together as well.”

As expected, the Knicks’ second unit was Miles McBride, Precious Achiuwa, Landry Shamet, Cam Payne and Jericho Sims.

They handled their minutes well and were better than the starters in the opening half.

McBride was aggressive while dropping a game-high 22 points on 18 shots, while Shamet added 16 points in 27 minutes.

The Hornets had a chance to win at the charity stripe with 2.5 seconds remaining, but Duane Washington Jr. missed all of his free throws after being fouled on a 3-point attempt.

Washington, coincidentally, was among the many players sent away by the Knicks in the Towns trade.

He was given extra money in the deal — essentially signed to a guaranteed contract only because the Knicks needed to match salaries — and Sunday he paid them back a little with misses.