Karl-Anthony Towns delivers exactly what Knicks need in Game 4

Karl-Anthony Towns struggled mightily on the defensive end, but that’s not the reason the Knicks made the blockbuster trade to acquire him.

He certainly carried his weight offensively. 

The Knicks needed every bit of it in their 121-113 Game 4 win over the Celtics on Monday night at Madison Square Garden.

Towns finished with 23 points on 11-for-15 shooting from the field, though he did miss all three of his 3-pointers as his struggles from deep in the series continue. 

“I thought we did a great job,” Towns said. “[The Celtics] came out with a bunch of energy. They executed at a high level to start the game. I felt we did a great job staying strong, staying disciplined. This team believes in each other and found ourselves executing, doing what we had to do to win.” 

Towns also had a team-high 11 rebounds as the Knicks won the important battle on the glass.

He had three offensive rebounds, and the Knicks finished with 15 second-chance points compared to the Celtics’ nine. 

“I thought we did a great job of executing,” Towns said. “They’re the defending champions, they have some of the most talented players in the NBA. You gotta make sure they only get one chance at a shot. Trying to make sure they don’t get second-chance points.” 

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Towns was a black hole on defense, though.

The Celtics hunted him nearly every possession, and that often resulted in Towns switching onto Jayson Tatum on screens.

And Tatum erupted for 42 points on 16-for-28 shooting from the field and 7-for-16 shooting from 3-point range before his scary noncontact injury late in the fourth quarter. 

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“I’m not going to lie man, Tatum was hitting some shots,” Towns said. “That’s all I could do. Shoutout to him.”