Mike Brown finally found the Knicks’ secret weapon: ‘I came to a revelation’
Karl-Anthony Towns has the ball near half court. There’s 3:39 left in the first quarter of the Knicks’ closeout Game 4 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers, and Towns is thriving in his new role as point-center in Mike Brown’s remixed Knicks offense. The All-Star big man takes Paul George off the dribble from the Sixers logo.
Miles McBride nails George with a hard screen, forcing the 6-2 Tyrese Maxey to switch onto the center. Towns powers through Maxey. Joel Embiid rotates over as the last line of the Philadelphia defense to take away the easy dunk.
Checkmate. This is exactly how Brown envisioned the dominos falling when he — reluctantly — turned to his pair of 7-footers to pull away from the Sixers in what became a 30-point road victory to close the second round. Towns dumps the ball off to Mitchell Robinson for his easiest two points of the night.
The next trip down the floor, Robinson sets a hard screen at the top of the key for Jalen Brunson, who dribbles into a pull-up three to put the Knicks up 17. Timeout, Nick Nurse. Courtesy of the market differentiator separating the Knicks from the other contenders competing for the Larry O’Brien Trophy at the end of the playoff road.
Through two postseason rounds, Towns and Robinson have shared the floor for only 20 total minutes. The Knicks have outscored the Sixers and Atlanta Hawks by an average of 27. 9 points per 100 possessions in those minutes.
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