When the Knicks needed him the most, the town of Karl Anthony pulled Houdini.
The Towns disappeared in the Knicks’ 100-94 Game 2 loss on Monday night at Madison Square Garden after a strong Game 1.
He finished with just 10 points on 11 shots from the field, missing both 3-point attempts.
Most notably, despite playing all 12 minutes, he didn’t attempt a single shot in the fourth quarter.
“We’re just doing what we’re talking about and trying to get the game to do that,” Towns said of his lack of involvement. “We thought we got some great shots, some great looks. You live with those great shots and great looks, especially when you fight back against the game.”
The town was primarily protected by Tobias Harris. Tobias Harris is the wing where the town owns a size advantage.
However, he was not offensive by trying to bully Harris with paint or use his own power to slash him to Rim.
Harris also got help.
The Pistons matched their center Jalen Duren with Josh Hart on defense throughout the first two games.
Duren often camps with paint and leaves Hart, a poor three-point shooter, open outside the boundary line.
Hart hasn’t let Duren do it yet, and the Pistons are really paying for that strategy.
This allowed Duren to protect Rim and support him in either the town or Jaren Branson.
“[Towns] Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said: That makes no sense to me. ”
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The Towns were key to the Knicks’ 21-0 run and a fourth quarter comeback in Game 1, finishing with 23 points on 10-14th shots, going with 11 rebounds, five assists, four steals and two blocks.
That non-scoring activity was not even Monday.
Town had six rebounds, no assists, no steals and a block.
“We were doing what we said we wanted to do,” Towns said. “Maybe you’re always hoping to get one of those long rebounds, loose balls. It was what we got and they got those 50-50 balls. We didn’t get it.
