The New York Knicks floor-spacing big man is dismantling Philadelphia’s interior defense. To survive this series, the Sixers must neutralize Towns’ lethal perimeter shooting before he draws their rim protectors away.
Karl-Anthony Towns has been one of the biggest reasons the New York Knicks have controlled this series.
He has given them a floor-spacing threat from the frontcourt, and the Philadelphia 76ers have not had a clean answer for it. In Game 2, Towns finished with 20 points, 10 rebounds, and seven assists in a little more than 27 minutes, even while dealing with foul trouble, and the Knicks still won 108-102 to take a 2-0 lead.
The bigger issue for Philadelphia is what Towns does to the shape of the floor. When he pulls a center away from the rim, the entire Knicks offense opens up. In one possession, Towns took Andre Drummond off the dribble and drained open shots against him when he was dropping, then later got Adem Bona into foul trouble with another drive to the rim.
By the end of the third quarter, Towns had already piled up five fouls on Bona and four on Drummond. Not only is he capable of making them pay for lax coverage, but he can drive to the rim and, more times than not, earn a trip to the charity stripe.
That spacing has also helped New York create cleaner looks for everyone else. Towns is averaging 6.0 assists per game in these playoffs, a major jump from his previous postseason runs, and the Knicks’ Game 2 notes showed him functioning as both a scorer and a playmaker. Once Philadelphia had to step up higher on him, the Knicks found more room for Brunson, Bridges, and Anunoby to operate around him.
That is why this matchup has become such a problem for the Sixers. Philadelphia’s centers can protect the paint, but Towns forces them into a choice: stay home and give him clean threes and midrange looks, or step out and open driving lanes and kickouts behind them. Game 2 showed how dangerous that tradeoff can be.
Once Towns started dragging Drummond and Bona away from the rim, New York’s offense became much harder to contain, and the Knicks used a late 9-0 run to close the game.
If Philadelphia cannot find a way to contend with Towns on the perimeter, this series will keep tilting in New York’s favor.
The 76ers have to fight an uphill battle to come back 2-0, which will only be tougher to do with Towns getting whatever he wants against Philadelphia’s bigs.
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Wes Dixon is a contributing writer to 76ersRoundtable. He can be reached at dixonwesley286@gmail.com.