The New York Knicks brought in Karl-Anthony Towns via a blockbuster trade with the expectation that he'll be the final piece to the team's championship puzzle. Towns' greatest asset as a basketball player is his ability to space the floor from beyond the arc, although during the Knicks' Wednesday night preseason game against the Washington Wizards, he began the game being unable to throw a stone into the ocean.
Towns started off the game by missing his first five attempts from three; however, his confidence never wanes, as evidenced by the declaration he made in the past that he's the greatest big-man shooter of all time. Thus, he let his sixth three-point attempt of the night fly, and the Knicks star center swished it, prompting him to celebrate with a sigh of relief almost.
This was Towns' lone three-point make on the night; at the very least, he's already getting his misses out of the way in games that don't count on the win-loss ledger yet. The good sign for Towns and the Knicks is that he still filled up the points column of the box score even though he did not have the best of shooting nights.
The 28-year-old center went 7-20 from the field (1-7 from beyond the arc), but he still finished with a team-high 25 points in a 117-94 Knicks win thanks to his production from the charity stripe (he went 10-11 from the free-throw line). Towns also contributed in all facets of the game, as he tallied 12 rebounds, two assists, one steal and two blocks in 28 minutes of play.
This is the kind of impact the Knicks will want from Towns on a nightly basis. He has tended to fade into the background when his shot from the perimeter isn't falling, but he has to remain aggressive on the scoring front regardless of his output from three. Given the Knicks' lack of depth, Towns will be shouldering a huge offensive load alongside Jalen Brunson, and he has to maintain a certain level of consistency from here on out.
Knicks overwhelm Wizards, show many positive signs in second preseason game
The Knicks' starting five is expected to be among the best in the association. They have a legitimate MVP candidate as the lead ballhandler of the offense (Jalen Brunson), two lockdown 3-and-D wings who are viewed among the best perimeter defenders in the league (Mikal Bridges and OG Anunoby), a swiss-army knife who excels as a connective piece (Josh Hart), and now, they have one of the best offensive centers in the entire league (Karl-Anthony Towns).
On Wednesday night, the Knicks certainly flexed the star-power and excellent complementary nature of their starting five against an outclassed Wizards squad. All members of their starting five had at least a +17 on the night, which is a testament to the two-way balance that lineup possesses.
The huge question surrounding the Knicks, of course, is their depth. They sacrificed the depth that they assembled last season to up the team's top-shelf talent level, and it will be a point of interest to monitor who emerges as a key contributor for the team as a reserve. Against the Wizards, Cameron Payne and Tyler Kolek were the ones who made a strong case for minutes. Payne put up 14 points (5-12 FG, 4-6 3PT), while the rookie from Marquette dropped 15 points and five assists on 6-10 shooting.
