Mike Brown calls out Karl-Anthony Towns for a lazy…
SACRAMENTO — Mike Brown called out Karl-Anthony Towns for a lazy play.
With less than two minutes remaining in the second quarter of the Knicks’ 112-101 loss to the Kings on Wednesday evening, Towns drove and fell after he was stripped in the paint by Precious Achiuwa.
The Knicks heart stayed on the ground instead of operating back on protection, which allowed Achiuwa to grab an uncontested offensive rebound around midcourt.
Karl-Anthony Towns seems up to the rafters during the Knicks’ 112-101 street loss to the Kings on Jan. 14, 2025. Sergio Estrada-Imagn Images
The sequence ended with Sacramento’s Russell Westbrook nailing a broad open nook 3-pointer to give the Kings a 17-point lead.
“He drove. Something happened where he fell down. He drove, he fell down,” Brown said. “When you fall down, you bought to get up and obtained to dash down the ground. And even when you’re the last man down the ground, you bought to get down there just in case there’s a long rebound. But there was no urgency. That wasn’t the only play. There have been a handful of performs that we did that. But there was no sense of urgency on that specific play to get back. And it was a five-point swing.
“If he at least gets down the floor, long rebound, he’s going to get it because he’s trailing the play. We watched the play at halftime and he didn’t even cross halfcourt. That sums up what our night was.”
The Knicks shot a depressing 20% on 3-pointers. But the locker room virtually unanimously pointed the blame elsewhere — protection was the issue.
“Offense is secondary to how sh** our defense was,” Josh Hart said. “Gave up what, 40 free throws? Undisciplined. Didn’t lock in on the game plan. It was an embarrassment. Today I really don’t care about the offense. Defensively we’ve got to figure it out.”
The Kings (11-30), a lottery-bound workforce, had 4 starters rating at least 18 factors.
Brown didn’t rule out Mitchell Robinson taking part in in his first back-to-back of the season.
Robinson, who is load managing his surgically-repaired ankle, logged 19 minutes in the loss.
The Knicks are at Golden State on Thursday evening.
“I’m not sure at the end of the day it’s going to be the medical team’s choice,” Brown said. “As we’ve gone along, his minutes have increased and he’s been able to do more things in practice in terms of their eyes. So whatever they tell us (Thursday night), we’ll listen to it.”
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