The praise showered upon New York Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns to begin the NBA Finals has quickly dissipated.
Following a Game 3 defeat at the hands of the San Antonio Spurs, the Knicks’ first loss in 46 days, Towns has come under fire for his lackluster effort down the stretch of games, particularly in the fourth quarter.
As pointed out by @NBAcrazystats on X, Towns has yet to score a point in the fourth quarter of three NBA Finals games, as the big man has come up short time and again when his team has needed him in crunch time. Over the first three games, in quarters 1 through 3, Towns has poured in 50 points, while he has laid a big fat goose egg in the final stanza of each contest.
That has come with Towns playing more fourth-quarter minutes than any of his teammates. Through three games, he has logged 29.1 fourth-quarter minutes, which is just ahead of guard Jalen Brunson, who has been on the floor for 26.9 fourth-quarter minutes this series. During that time, Brunson has netted 32 fourth-quarter points, while Towns has come up empty.
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Towns was lauded through the first two games of the series for his effort against Spurs star Victor Wembanyama. However, after Game 3, when Wembanyama poured in a game-high 32 points to Towns’ 11, those who had previously celebrated the Knicks’ big man had suddenly turned critical of him.
“There were times that offense did struggle because he didn’t want the ball,” said ESPN’s Alan Hahn on Get Up on Tuesday morning. “And that was a problem.”
With Game 4 scheduled for Wednesday, if the Knicks have any hope of getting back on track against San Antonio, they must receive increased production from their 30-year-old center. Otherwise, New York will be staring at blowing a 2-0 series lead in what would be one of the more disappointing Finals losses in recent memory.
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