Knicks’ Precious Achiuwa wants everyone to know ‘I’m an elite defender’

Precious Achiuwa didn’t start. But he finished. 

And the performance Wednesday against the 76ers reinforced his confidence. 

“I’m an elite defender,” he said after collecting three blocks in the Knicks’ 125-119 overtime win. “I don’t think I got to say that.” 

With Karl-Anthony Towns shelved because of an injured thumb, Achiuwa, the Knicks’ lone frontcourt reserve behind starter Jericho Sims, played all but a few seconds of the fourth quarter and overtime.

He was the catalyst down the stretch with his rebounding, rim protection and overall presence in the paint. 

The key, Achiuwa said, was forcing the Sixers to deviate from their clear plan of either Tyrese Maxey or Paul George. 

“They were only going to two guys,” Achiuwa said. “So for me, it was how can we get the ball out of those guys’ hands? Make somebody else make a play.” 

There was a big caveat — the Sixers didn’t have Joel Embiid or Andre Drummond, leaving the 6-foot-7 Guerschon Yabusele as their center — but the Knicks frontcourt play Wednesday, a huge question mark without KAT, was hardly a detriment. 

Sims contributed 23 solid minutes with six offensive boards. He tripped up a little with foul trouble, but the defense and rebounding was positive.

Sims’ ability to defend pick-and-rolls offers the Knicks a different look than the often faulty drop coverage with Towns in the lineup. 

But Achiuwa, who is just 6-8 and traditionally a power forward, took over Wednesday when it mattered most.

He accumulated the following in the final two minutes of regulation plus OT: 

A block on Maxey’s drive, a near block on Maxey’s game-tying drive (it was called a goaltend), a second block on Maxey’s drive and an acrobatic up-and-under layup. 

“’It was just reading the game. The ball is going to two guys [on the Sixers],” Achiuwa said. “I’m not the tallest, especially if I’m playing the 5. I’m not the tallest of centers. But I try to use my quickness, my arms. I got really long arms. Being able to read the game and time the shot.” 

This is relevant for the immediate future of the Knicks, not just the recent past in Philly.

Towns, who is listed as questionable for Friday night’s game against the Timberwolves, is grappling with intermittent knee soreness and a thumb injury on his shooting hand.

As The Post reported, tests on Towns’ thumb uncovered a bone chip along with a sprain. 

Per a source, surgery was deemed unnecessary, and the plan is for Towns to return once the swelling subsides.

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Two medical experts explained to The Post how that’s possible — how Towns can continue playing while a bone chip heals without surgery. 

“A bone chip can be one of two things,” said Daniel Kaplan, a sports orthopedic surgeon at NYU Langone Health. “One could be where the ligament in his thumb that he sprained attaches to [the bone]. … That would be a bigger deal because it would mean the ligament would be unstable. That would be something that requires surgery. 

“But since it sounds like surgery isn’t necessary, that means it’s the other type of bone chip injury, where it’s truly just a chip from the impact of the bone, most likely. In that case, it shouldn’t change his overall outlook tremendously. It probably would just lead to more swelling and maybe take a little bit longer for that to go down and for him to be ready.” 

Daniel A. Siegerman, an orthopedic hand and upper extremity surgeon at Hackensack Meridian Health, agreed while providing a general healing timeline. 

“If they’re saying he doesn’t need surgery or he doesn’t need any more aggressive treatment, then most likely the thumb is stable. And it should heal by soft tissue within a matter of two to three weeks,” Siegerman said. “If someone has good stability of their thumb without any significant ligament injury, a small bone chip is treated just like a sprain. Finger sprains can be annoying. Certainly they can be painful and they can act out. They can cause stiffness over time. But in general, if you look at all comers, within a few weeks they’re back to most activities.” 

Neither Siegerman nor Kaplan treated Towns or viewed his medical records. 

Towns has played and missed games after being listed as questionable, so his injury status for Friday — technically defined as 50/50 — isn’t much of an indicator.

Perhaps it’s more relevant that Towns could be motivated to play the Timberwolves, his former franchise. 

Regardless, the Knicks will need more of what they saw from Achiuwa at Wells Fargo Center.

That will be tougher for him and Sims against Minnesota’s Rudy Gobert. 

“It’s been an up-and-down season for me just in terms of getting hurt, coming back, playing a little, playing a lot. A lot of things in between,” said Achiuwa, who missed the opening 20 games with a hamstring strain. “[But] if you know how to play, you know how to play. Center, power forward — whatever the case is.”