Eyes on Karl-Anthony Towns: Observing the Knicks’ star in Orlando for one night

ORLANDO, Fla. — Karl-Anthony Towns is late, and he knows it. His smile says it all, and so does the laugh and warm embrace with Knicks assistant coach Mark Bryant.

It’s 4:46 p.m. in Orlando, and Towns’ pregame routine is supposed to start at 4:45. In his defense, Orlando’s arena is a bit wonky, and Towns has other rituals he likes to do before touching the court for the first time. Bryant, who puts Towns through his pregame workout, understands. The two get right to work.

Towns begins shooting standstill floaters in the paint, alternating hands, just to get his body moving. He then ventures to the 3-point line, shooting stationary jumpers. Shot after shot goes in. Pick-and-pop 3s, with Bryant acting as the ballhandler, follow that. Then deep 3s, some that have Towns’ feet touching the logos on the Magic’s floor. Towns’ routine consists of a lot of jumpers, which makes sense, given he’s one of the best shooting big men ever. Towns ventures into the paint for post work. He and Bryant play a loose game of one-on-one, only Towns is the only one who gets to shoot. Bryant makes Towns work, swatting and clawing at the ball as Towns tries to create space. Bryant wins a duel or two over the next few minutes, slapping the ball out of Towns’ hands. For the most, part, though, each rep ends with Towns working on his one-legged fadeaway, the one made popular by arguably the other greatest shooting big man of all time, Hall of Famer Dirk Nowitzki.

Towns’ routine is to the point, and he’s done in 15 minutes — well, on this night, 14 minutes. It ends with Bryant and Towns chatting at the 3-point line, just those two. Bryant is teaching. Towns is listening. The two have only been working together for a little more than two months, but it’s clear the relationship between the coach and player is strong. Towns exits the court, dapping up Bryant, and then is greeted by close to 25 Knicks fans between the time he steps off the floor and the time he enters the locker room. Towns signs every autograph, takes every picture and strikes up a conversation with a fan, centered around a shoe Nike hasn’t yet sent him. He’s a star. Everyone wants a piece of him.

Towns, at the age of 29, is in the midst of his best season in an already decorated career. If the Knicks were able to find some consistency as opposed to alternating wins and losses over the last few weeks, Towns’ name would firmly be in the early-season MVP discussion. Even with that, it probably still should be. Towns is averaging 24.9 points and a league-leading 13.6 rebounds and is knocking down over 44 percent of his 3s. His chemistry with Jalen Brunson is growing with each game, and the duo, statistically, is the best pick-and-roll combo in the NBA.

It’s a little past 5 p.m., and Towns signs his last autograph. He disappears into the locker room and finishes preparing for the night’s game against the Magic. The Knicks are coming off a loss at home to the Hawks, a defeat that sent them to Orlando instead of Las Vegas for the NBA Cup semifinals. New York needs a bounce-back victory.

The Kia Center is one of the last remaining arenas that sit media on the court. The sights and sounds are better here than almost any arena in the NBA, from a media perspective. This is the ideal night to key in on and obverse Towns, and only Towns, for an entire game.

First quarter

9:59: Towns, who is two passes away on defense, makes a nice tag on Orlando’s Wendell Carter Jr. while defending Goga Bitadze. Towns does everything correctly, even following Carter to the basket to box him out. The issue is that Trista De Silva made a 45 cut to the basket and finished with a dunk. There was no resistance at the rim. The cut wasn’t Towns’ fault, but he wasn’t paying attention to his surroundings other than boxing out Carter before a shot went up. New York’s defense has been susceptible to cutting teams at points this season. The defense in general needs to improve, starting with communication and off-ball awareness.

6:36: Towns grabs a rebound over a couple of outstretched Magic arms. He’s been the NBA’s best rebounder and is having his best season on the glass of his career. Towns is on pace to average double-digit rebounds for the first time since 2020-21. Early in Towns’ career, he would leave most games with 10 rebounds. He was primarily playing center in his early years with a young Timberwolves team. His rebounding numbers took a hit when Minnesota added Rudy Gobert to the fold in 2022. Towns has talked about having to adjust his role with the Knicks, who aren’t the biggest team on paper, and get back to becoming a forceful rebounder to help New York accomplish what it wants this season. He’s second in the NBA in contested rebounds per game, per NBA.com, with 5.9.

4:08: Towns has only taken one shot so far tonight. He’s been primarily using his body to create opportunities for Brunson. Towns just set a screen on Kentavious Caldwell-Pope that was one of his best of the season. Caldwell-Pope ran into Towns’ and stopped in his tracks as if he were trying to push open a locked door. Towns hasn’t necessarily been the best screener this season. There have been instances where he doesn’t position himself well enough, or soon enough, to knock assertive, on-ball defenders off their path. His screening contact is very solid to this point in the game.

2:42: Towns checks out for the first time in the game, with the Magic leading the Knicks, 15-14. He has just two points and three rebounds.

Second quarter

11:23: Towns is back in the game, and the funny, yet weird, feud between him and Orlando’s Mo Wagner adds another chapter. Towns goes to post up Wagner and gives an elbow to the neck area as he tries to spin baseline. The refs review the play and call it a Flagrant 1. Do I think Towns tried to intentionally hurt Wagner? No, I don’t. I do think he tried to be extra physical with the Orlando big man, though. A few weeks back in New York, Towns tried to post up Wagner, and the latter was being extra physical in his resistance. The play made for a great internet meme as Towns made a face, almost dismissing Wagner’s physicality, before shooting and making a turnaround jumper. There’s a little something between the two. The extra physicality by Towns wasn’t for nothing. (However, he didn’t try to elbow Wagner in the head.)

Karl Anthony Towns reaction after bumping with Moe Wagner ⚰️⚰️⚰️ pic.twitter.com/Gcja0Xka0a

— Ahmed/The Ears/IG: BigBizTheGod 🇸🇴 (@big_business_) December 4, 2024

9:49: A Cole Anthony-Wagner pick-and-roll ends in two points for the Magic. New York’s pick-and-roll defense has been an issue at times to start the season. Part of that has been because Mikal Bridges struggles to contain defenders at the point of attack and Towns is not a natural rim protector. Towns ends up having to guard both Anthony and Wagner as Bridges gets caught trailing after the screen. Wagner catches the ball, does a fake, gets Towns to jump and then finishes off the glass.

9:01: After Towns and Wagner traded 3s, the last one being a Towns 3 that saw him shaking his head after, Towns stifles Wagner defensively and forces the Orlando big man to hit the ground. Towns dives over top of him to try and produce a jump-ball situation. The Magic get a timeout, but the back-and-forth between Towns and Wagner is getting more and more entertaining as the game goes on.

In the running for the most KATty minute of all time.

All of it. This is the experience. pic.twitter.com/ohrY5qubGW

— Rit Holtzman (@BenRitholtzNBA) December 15, 2024

7:33: Towns makes a difficult rebound through several bodies after a Bridges missed 3. However, after gathering the ball, Towns tries a behind-the-head pass that gets stolen. Towns’ passing has been a highlight of this season. There have been a lot of flashy ones. I saw what he was trying to do as Bridges cut, but that wasn’t the time for it, not with how quick and physical Orlando’s defense is. Coach Tom Thibodeau didn’t care for the fancy pass, either.

6:49: The physicality of the game is pumping through Towns now. He just finished a tough layup over Carter and shouted after — I believe he was looking for a foul — while flexing at the same time.

2:02: Towns grabs his 13th rebound … of the first half, to go with 11 points. He’s worked very hard in his 20 minutes and looks a bit gassed. He leads the game in minutes played. Towns’ motor has been high since joining the Knicks — not to say it wasn’t in Minnesota. It does feel like he is aware of the type of players New Yorkers gravitate toward, and he takes that to heart.

00:10: Towns catches a low pass and swings it over to OG Anunoby in the corner for a made 3. New York has been one of the best passing teams in the league this season. The players make the extra pass more often than not, and Towns is a big reason why. The basket helps the Knicks take a 10-point lead into halftime.

Third quarter

8:53: Towns gets caught having to guard two in the pick-and-roll again after Brunson gets lost on a screen. Towns steps over to stop the ballhandler from getting to the rim, and it leads to a wide-open Bitadze dunk. Towns isn’t a great defender, but New York’s defensive issues run deeper than him. The point of attack needs work. Towns looks frustrated after the Bitadze slam as he was put in an impossible position.

6:10: Towns is a little late to rotate over on a rolling Wagner as Cory Joseph finds him. Towns ends up fouling on the shot attempt, but it was just his second foul of the night. Towns has been prone to fouling in his career, and this year he is averaging 3.4 per game, which is tied for the fifth most in the NBA. Considering how physical this game has been, Towns has done well not getting too caught up in the action and taking himself out with the whistle.

4:18: Maybe I jinxed him. Towns gets hit for a charge while trying to go up around the basket. He stays in the game but isn’t happy with the official. He says something right after the call, and then after Wagner hits a 3 on the ensuing possession. The Knicks’ lead is down to six.

3:45: Towns positions himself nicely under the basket as he watches Brunson drive to the rim. Towns anticipated the Brunson shot and put himself in a spot where he’d be able to capitalize if there was a miss. The Knicks were a tremendous offensive-rebounding team last season with Mitchell Robinson and Isaiah Hartenstein at center and have taken a step back this year, ranking 26th in the NBA. The bucket was Towns’ first of the half.

2:19: After catching the ball at the 3-point line, Towns drives past Jonathan Isaac and goes up high in an attempt to finish over Wagner. Towns gets the foul call, but the shot doesn’t go in as he crashes into the ground. He asks his teammate if the shot went in. The teammate says no. Towns, hilariously, lies down in disbelief before getting up to go to the free-throw line.

2:04: Towns checks out with the Knicks leading by nine. He’s at 31 minutes on the night with a quarter left.

Fourth quarter

10:04: After sitting briefly to end the third, Towns started the fourth. A few minutes in, a defensive breakdown leads to an Isaac 3. I believe Towns, who was playing alongside Precious Achiuwa, helped too far into the paint. A possession later, the Knicks get Towns an open 3 with an out-of-bounds play, but he misses it long as the shot clock expires. Towns is just 1 of 3 from distance tonight. The big man hasn’t shot fewer than five 3s in a game since Nov. 27 and hasn’t made fewer than two 3s in a game since Dec. 1.

7:36: Towns blocks a shot with Orlando in transition, and it leads to a Josh Hart bucket on the other end. It was a timely defensive play for the center as Orlando was staying within striking distance. The sequence puts the Knicks up 12 against an Orlando team that has struggled to score.

6:51: After setting solid screens all night, Towns gets hit with an illegal screen. He doesn’t like it, and neither does Thibodeau. To Towns’ credit, it’s his first foul on a screen in this game and felt like a 50-50 call by the official.

4:36: Towns with another nice drive and finish at the rim. He spills into the cameramen near the basket but gets up quickly to help the Knicks avoid being a man down. Luckily for Towns, there’s a stop in play as he began sprinting back. Towns has been very forceful as a driver this season from the top of the key. He likes to use the threat of his shot to create a driving opportunity. It’s come with mixed results, but it has generated some big dunks this season.

00:00: Towns seeks out Wagner after the final buzzer. The two embrace after going at it over the last 48 minutes. All is good.

This wasn’t Towns’ loudest game as a Knick, meaning he’s scored more before, he’s had bigger plays, more memorable moments, but 22 points, 22 rebounds and five assists is nothing to sneeze at. The 22 boards were his most as a Knick and the 15th time in his career he’s grabbed 20-plus rebounds in a game. Given Orlando’s physical play, New York needed a rebuttal. Towns set good screens to help get teammates open, he dominated the glass and was assertive going to the basket. Towns has done a good job of adopting whatever role the Knicks need of him this season, and this game was just the latest example.

Towns exits the floor in Orlando and prepares to head back to New York. His new home is the last stop before he goes back to his old home, Minnesota, the place where he spent the first nine seasons of his career before being traded just before training camp. I’m sure it’s been on his mind for the last several days, as Thursday’s game at the Target Center has inched closer and closer on the NBA calendar. How could he not?

Minneapolis, as the New Jersey-born Towns has said, is where he grew up.

Sign up to get The Bounce, the essential NBA newsletter from Zach Harper and The Athletic staff, delivered free to your inbox.

(Top photo: Alan Youngblood / Associated Press)