NEW YORK — Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns revealed he is dealing with a Grade 2 quad strain, which led to his “will he or won’t he” status in the hours leading up to Wednesday night’s season-opening 119-111 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers at Madison Square Garden.
Shortly before game time, Towns declared himself fit to play, then scored 19 points and 12 rebounds in 31 minutes in a matchup between the two favorites in the Eastern Conference.
The decision to play Towns came after he was downgraded to doubtful on the Knicks’ injury report early Wednesday afternoon, then upgraded to questionable an hour later.
“I’ve been banged up, and I really haven’t gotten a chance to practice or play in the last two preseason games,” Towns said before revealing the severity of his quad strain. “I didn’t want to disappoint the fans. It’s not something that’s easy to deal with, [but] we made it happen tonight.”
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When asked if he was in pain while playing, Towns said: “It was hurting, for sure.” He didn’t let on whether it would affect his availability for Friday’s game against the Boston Celtics.
On a couple of plays, Towns used his frame to overpower Cavaliers big man Evan Mobley. He didn’t stray too far beyond the 3-point line, with just four attempts. The Knicks have emphasized playing faster, but Towns showed he could also still play bully ball on occasion.
A flurry from Donovan Mitchell (31 points) gave the Cavaliers a short fourth-quarter lead, but the Knicks quickly squelched it with a 14-0 run to take a 101-89 lead with 8:45 remaining. All the damage was done with leading scorer and Clutch Player of the Year Jalen Brunson on the bench for his usual rest.
Towns shook off early foul trouble to have a productive night for the Knicks, who were already without two regulars: center Mitchell Robinson (load management) and swingman Josh Hart (back). Being without a third rotation player would’ve sent coach Mike Brown deeper into his bench during his first game as Knicks coach.
Towns’ uncertain status added intrigue in a game that already had plenty, including Brown getting his first taste of the massive expectations that await him after his predecessor, Tom Thibodeau, helped lead the Knicks to their first conference finals since 2000.
Brown used 11 players in the opener, a somewhat new development from the previous regime, and the Knicks held comfortable leads for large portions of the night.
“This team is a deep team,” Brown said. “I give Leon Rose and his group a lot of credit. It’s my job to keep finding combinations that work. I got a lot of room to grow, too.”
He added: “I can learn on the fly because we have a lot of guys that can play. I don’t know if I’ll play 11 guys every night, but we like to play as many as we can.”
It wasn’t Brown’s first go-round at Madison Square Garden, but the energy was different for this season opener. He said Spike Lee greeted him before the game and that he was surprised Lee knew who he was.
Brown was asked if he took in a moment to feel the expectations from the outside world, and he pointed out the internal ones are just as weighty.
“Our expectations are extremely high. Whether we won or lost, it’s one game,” Brown said. “We don’t feel like we’re anywhere near what we’re capable of, and that’s what makes it exciting.”
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