Karl-Anthony Towns' latest excuse is bad news for Knicks

New York Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns. Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

Karl-Anthony Towns' latest excuse is bad news for Knicks

By Ernesto Cova | Last updated Apr 21, 2026 10:16 AM ET

The New York Knicks wasted the perfect opportunity to go up 2-0 in their first-round matchup with the Atlanta Hawks.

Mike Brown's team was dominating, leading by 12 entering the fourth quarter, before its offense completely dried up. That was especially the case with Karl-Anthony Towns, who barely looked at the rim and went scoreless in the fourth quarter after dropping 14 points in the previous period.

When asked about his nonaggressive approach to the closing frame, Towns claimed that he just kept trusting his teammates to make shots.

The Knicks need more from Karl-Anthony Towns

"The opportunity just didn't come around to shoot it. At the end of the day, I trust everyone in this locker room to shoot the ball. The opportunity wasn't available for me in the 4th and it's fine," Towns told SNY after the game.

Karl-Anthony Towns on not taking many shots in the 4th quarter of Game 2:

"The opportunity just didn't come around to shoot it. At the end of the day, I trust everyone in this locker room to shoot the ball. The opportunity wasn't available for me in the 4th and it's fine" pic.twitter.com/RC4Dt6bG8n
— Knicks Videos (@sny_knicks) April 21, 2026

While that makes perfect sense to a degree, that's not what you want to hear in such a crucial situation, especially coming from the team's second-leading scorer and most talented three-level shooter. The Hawks went with a small-ball lineup to close the game, given that their bigs got into foul trouble.

Jonathan Kuminga guarded Towns for most of the final quarter, yet he didn't try to post him up or make the most of his glaring height advantage. The Hawks ultimately outscored the home team 28-15 in the final quarter to secure a one-point comeback win.

Towns is making $55 million a year, per Spotrac, and that type of money comes with major responsibilities. He has to be much more aggressive if this team doesn't want to go through yet another heartbreak.

Ernesto Cova

Ernesto is a bilingual (English-Spanish) sports writer with over eight years of experience covering major leagues such as the NBA, NFL, and MLB. Ernesto’s work focuses on providing insightful, up-to-date coverage of sports, blending his expertise in sports psychology with a passion for analyzing player performance, team dynamics, and trade developments across various sports leagues

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