Are the Knicks heading for a postseason roadblock?

Shortly before New York’s prime-time loss in Oklahoma City, Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns was asked about his assimilation under head coach Mike Brown’s system — roughly eight months after the coach’s hire. “I’m still working through it,” Towns said. “Still trying to figure out where I could impact our team and winning the most.

Right now, I’m just utilizing my experience so I can do the best I can. ” A simple, brief, yet powerful statement. Towns’ words offered a sliver of understanding into a season of existential crisis, contextualized within the construct of who the Knicks think they are, what reality presents and the widening gap between the two.

It’s simply shocking to realize Towns still finds himself attempting to fit 76 games into the regular season, but adaptability and viability have been two underlying storylines this season out of the Big Apple. Following Tuesday’s humbling 111-94 loss to the Rockets, New York (48-28) finds itself just half a game ahead of Cleveland for the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference.

The game itself was a mess: Jalen Brunson struggled to generate any real offensive threat, finishing with 12 points on 5-for-14 shooting; Towns ended his night with 22 but needed 17 shots to get there, with the bulk of his scoring coming in the fourth quarter when the game was well out of reach; New York shot a woeful 29% from behind the arc; and the team, despite a hefty advantage on the offensive glass (23 second-chance points on 12 offensive boards), scored a measly 80. 7 points per 100 half-court possessions — good for 10th percentile of all games this season. Draft your Yahoo Fantasy Baseball team for the 2026 MLB Season But the real issue, a growing concern about performances against tougher competition as the postseason nears, is expanding itself at a rapid rate.