Karl-Anthony Towns starting to change critical narrative — with major Knicks test waiting

LAS VEGAS — When Karl-Anthony Towns was moved to power forward in the playoffs and again to start this season, the reason was unspoken but understood:

Defense.

For much of his career — especially during the second half of it — Towns has been subpar on that side of the floor, and sometimes worse than that, which was why the Timberwolves acquired Rudy Gobert to protect the rim.

The Towns-Gobert frontcourt worked well enough for the Timberwolves to win 56 games and advance to the 2024 Western Conference finals. But Tom Thibodeau last season reinstated Towns at center with the Knicks, a move that boosted the offense while again exposing KAT’s deficiencies guarding the pick-and-roll and defending the paint. Combined with Josh Hart’s broken confidence, the circumstances became so untenable that Mitchell Robinson moved to center for the final four games of that lost series against the Pacers.