Knicks coach Mike Brown pushed back on the idea that Karl-Anthony Towns has to be more involved in the offense or more assertive.
Then Towns went out and proved him right, at least for one night.
He finished with a team-high 25 points in the 108-106 win over the Rockets on Saturday night at Madison Square Garden.
“Knowing that those two guys are our leading scorer, our second-leading scorer [Jalen Brunson and Towns], first-most shots, second-most shots; trying to fit those two guys in that order and then everybody else is what’s most important,” Brown said before Thursday’s game.
“I look at KAT and he’s probably right where he should be. Maybe he should be the leading scorer, I don’t know, but for sure the second-leading scorer — he’s that. He gets the second-most field goal attempts behind Jalen. … The No. 1 guy is probably gonna get the most stuff, because he’s the No. 1 guy. The No. 2 guy, he’s gonna get the second-most stuff because he’s the No. 2. So whatever you do, hopefully it averages out to you getting the second most, if you’re the No. 2 guy.”
But Brown did concede that he has made changes to the offense in order to maximize Towns.
“We’ve simplified it a lot,” Brown said. “We’ve simplified it a lot to try to fit him in and everyone else at the same time. … Our offense is different now than it was in the preseason because I’ve had to try to adjust and make it fit everybody to where Jalen’s getting his first, KAT’s getting his second, then we go from there.”
Tyler Kolek was briefly sent down to the G-League so that he could play for the Westchester Knicks on Saturday.
He recorded 19 points and 13 assists in 37 minutes in Westchester’s 122-114 win over the Cleveland Charge.
The Knicks then recalled him to the active roster immediately after the game, and he was available for Saturday night’s game, though he did not see any action.
“Shower up quick, head down there,” Kolek said after the G-League game. “Hopefully, I’ll make it for the tip.”
Kolek has fallen out of Brown’s rotation since the Knicks acquired Jose Alvarado just ahead of the trade deadline as a backup guard.
“Jose’s played, obviously,” Brown said before Saturday’s game. “Jose’s played well for us. He’s given us a different look. Tyler’s been awesome, for Year 2. He has a chance to be a good pro, really good pro. He’s just gotta stick with it, and we gotta keep trying to help him by finding ways for him to get reps. So today was a good opportunity for us to find a way for him to get a rep.”
Mitchell Robinson played 18 minutes and recorded six points and four rebounds on Saturday.
He is expected to sit the second leg of the back-to-back against the Bulls in Chicago on Sunday.
Giants coach John Harbaugh was in attendance Saturday and received a loud ovation from the MSG crowd when he was shown on the jumbotron.
