Karl-Anthony Towns reunites with his former team as Donte DiVincenzo calls out to the Knicks bench from the free throw line and exchanges heated words with Rick Brunson after Sunday's preseason game at the Garden It was certainly warmer and more fuzzy than watching it.
Towns, playing for the first time against the Timberwolves since the blockbuster swap in September that sent DiVincenzo and Julius Randle to Minnesota, swapped jerseys with former teammate Anthony Edwards and completed a double-double to lead the Knicks to 115 points. After contributing to the victory with a 110, he smiled and hugged the other players. victory.
“There were a lot of emotions, great moments, great times, nine years of my life in Minnesota and the place I've called home,” Towns said after the game. “So they're not just teammates to me, they're brothers, brothers in real life.
“So it was definitely a wild, wild day. It definitely got me to work.”
While the wildness of the game was largely brought on by DiVincenzo, the 28-year-old Towns simply saw it as another opportunity to get used to his new teammates and environment with the Garden as a center in the Knicks' system (though he Role played in 3 games) An early season in Tom Thibodeau's career when he was coaching the Timberwolves.
Randle, a four-time All-Star, finished Sunday's game with 16 points, 16 rebounds and three steals in 29 minutes, but Randle did not play for Minnesota.
“I think they're different players in some ways, but similar in other ways,” Thibodeau said. “Julius is more of a power forward, but I think he's a great player. If you look at what he's done for us, scoring, passing, rebounding, that's at the power forward position. .
“We obviously needed Mitchell Robinson.'' [injured] and Isaiah [Hartenstein] Lose [him] In free agency. We needed a center. I think the center position is important because that was a big part of it… Looking at Karl, I like his versatility and his size is important for us. ”
The 7-footer brings added dimension to the Knicks by shooting 39.8 percent from 3-point range during his career, but Thibodeau also emphasizes rim protection at the five position.
Defensive reliability is especially important for Towns with Hartenstein joining Oklahoma City and Robinson expected to be out for several more months after ankle surgery.
“Just accepting the responsibility of being the quarterback and anchor of the defense,” Towns said. “As everyone knows at OG, we have great wings [Anunoby] and mikal [Bridges,] and josh [Hart] and jaren [Brunson] He does a great job of putting pressure on the ball handlers as well.
“That's going to get us a win and we have a lot of goals in mind and to get any closer to achieving that we need to solidify our defense, our defensive game plan and our identity. …Here. Doing it again will be key to us doing something special in this city.”
Offensively, Towns said the biggest adjustment heading into Tuesday's home exhibition game against the Hornets was learning where he needed to space the court and “refreshing,” to use Thibodeau's early-career terminology.
“I'm a different player than I was when I first was at Thisbus,” Towns said. “We are still adjusting to each other, but we have a solid foundation from before.”
And while DiVincenzo's back-and-forth with the Knicks' coaching staff during his return to MSG was a hot topic online, playing against the Timberwolves so soon after the trade didn't seem to have a negative effect on Towns.
“There were too many emotions. No, I'm just kidding,” Towns said. “I just think the game of basketball, the business of basketball, is going to continue, regardless of how you feel or how life is treating you.
“I have to come here prepared every day and put my city on the map and do what's best for my teammates and the organization. Obviously today is going to be a tough day for me, but I I went out there and did my best for my teammates. I just wanted to do everything I could to win this game.”
