Karl-Anthony Towns Injury Update: Knicks All-Star Remains on Injury Report for Emirates NBA Cup Game vs. Bulls (Oct. 31)

Karl-Anthony Towns remains in the New York Knicks' injury report ahead of their Emirates NBA Cup debut game against the Chicago Bulls on Friday, Oct. 31. Towns is listed as probable to play despite nursing a right quad strain.

Towns joined Guerschon Yabusele (knee), who is probable to play, and Mitchell Robinson (ankle), who is listed as questionable, in the injury report.

Towns have been in the injury report since the start of the season. According to Towns, he has been dealing with a Grade 2 quadriceps strain.

"It was hurting," he said. "I didn't want to disappoint the fans. It's not something that's easy to deal with. We made it happen tonight, I'm glad the fans respected the effort I put in to play."

Explore the NBA Draft 2024 with our free NBA Mock Draft Simulator & be the GM of your favorite NBA team.

Yet, he played all of the Knicks games so far, averaging 17.0 points and 13.5 rebounds per game, but only shot 35.2% from the field.

However, he struggled in their loss against the Milwaukee Bucks, where he only put up eight points and 12 rebounds on 2-of-12 shooting from the field.

The Knicks are 2-2 to start the season, after losing their last two games against the Bucks and the Miami Heat. The team defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Boston Celtics to open the season.

---

Knicks analyst believes New York should be extra careful in playing Towns amid injury

According to Sports Illustrated analyst Jayesh Pagar, the Knicks should be extra careful in dealing with Towns' lingering quad problem, as it is a tricky injury.

He believed that Towns could be risking his long-term health by playing through the pain.

“Karl-Anthony Towns is taking a big risk this season," Pagar said. "The New York Knicks star has been battling a Grade 2 right quadriceps strain since before the season even started. If Towns aggravates this injury by playing too much, the Knicks could lose their best frontcourt scorer for an extended time.” “Medical experts say most quad strains take about two weeks to recover. Playing through it repeatedly only delays healing and risks turning a moderate injury into something much worse. This isn’t just about missing a few games; a seriously aggravated quad strain could sideline him for months," he added.

If the team sits out Towns in their coming games, the team would be heavily relying on leading scorer Jalen Brunson and Mikal Bridges.

Edited by Rob Andrew Lo