Forty-six seconds into the second quarter of Game 2 of the Knicks’ second-round playoff series against the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday, Karl-Anthony Towns made a play that would change the game — and potentially the series — for good.
Towns, whose backup Mitchell Robinson sat Game 2 with an undisclosed illness, had already picked up two questionable, tick-tack fouls in the opening period against a 76ers team without Joel Embiid (ankle), something of a persistent issue plaguing Towns in years long predating his arrival in a blockbuster trade to the Knicks two summers ago.
Towns ranked second in total personal fouls behind only Orlando’s Wendell Carter Jr. and led the NBA outright in offensive fouls during the regular season. He recorded four or more fouls in three of the Knicks’ six first-round games against the Atlanta Hawks, four in 20 minutes in the Game 1 rout of the Sixers on Monday, then two fouls in his first seven minutes on the court in Game 2 on Wednesday.
And at the 11:44 mark of the second quarter, not one full offensive and defensive possession into the period, with a sellout Madison Square Garden crowd nervously awaiting the Sixers’ upcoming offensive possession, Philly head coach Nick Nurse put Towns in pick-and-roll action.
The results were predicable: Towns stepped up to trap Tyrese Maxey coming off of a screen, Maxey attempted to split the trap, and Towns — instead of ceding a drive to the rim — tripped Maxey for his third foul in less than eight minutes.
It was an inexplicable sequence given the night’s backup center, second-year big man Ariel Hukporti, already had three fouls in his first four minutes. It was more inexcusable given head coach Mike Brown, after a 39-point victory to open the series, lamented his team’s carelessness committing fouls in Game 1, where the Sixers, led by Embiid, shot twice as many free throws as the Knicks.
And the early foul trouble in Game 2 created shades of Games 2 and 3 against the Hawks, where Atlanta hung around just long enough to pull away with one-point victories to take a 2-1 series lead before the Knicks outscored them by nearly 100 points over their final three games.
The Knicks went on to defeat the Sixers, 108-102, to take a 2-0 series lead in the Eastern Conference semifinals with the series shifting to Philadelphia for Games 3 and 4 on Friday and Sunday. But foul trouble, beginning with Towns, who has unequivocally become New York’s most important playoff player, remains a concern — especially if Robinson either can’t play due to injury or illness or gets rendered unplayable by opposing coaches who choose to intentionally foul a 40% free-throw shooter.
The Knicks cannot afford to go long stretches without Towns, who has become a playmaking hub on offense following a hectic first-round series against the Hawks. Even in limited minutes playing through foul trouble, he finished with 20 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists in Game 2.
But the Sixers had a chance. And after a 39-point loss, they gained confidence headed just 90 minutes south for the next two games at the Xfinity Mobile Arena. The Sixers tried to implement this game plan in Game 1 on Monday, and it worked to an extent, when Embiid got Towns, Robinson and OG Anunoby each in early foul trouble. There’s no reason, however, the Knicks’ centers should have had six combined fouls in the opening 13 minutes of play. It nearly cost the Knicks a playoff game.
This time, it cost playoff mileage: Towns logged 27 minutes due to foul trouble. Every other Knicks starter played 37 or more minutes picking up the slack. Brown tried Jeremy Sochan for one minute at center. He settled on Anunoby and Josh Hart splitting those minutes after moving away from Hukporti in the second half.
A team better equipped to exploit those flaws will do so in the forthcoming rounds, the Detroit Pistons, Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs coming to mind should the Knicks advance past the Sixers in Round 2.
In fact, the Sixers will be better equipped to attack this Knicks flaw if Embiid can return at any point in the series.
