Four months in and it looks like Karl-Anthony Towns still need more learning to do under the system of Mike Brown. This showed in their Saturday loss to the Phoenix Suns and KAT’s game was put under the microscope as they struggled to get the offense flowing with him as the focal point.
Knicks came to the game without Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart and Brown decided to have the five-time All-Star start the offense many times. However, it barely produced results.
Brown said he had to talk to his player about turnovers during half time.
“We said, ‘Hey, when you catch down there, they’re coming. So you may have to spray, quickly.’ And I think he tried a couple times,” Brown said about the defense on Towns.
Did the talking do any good? Brown’s follow up suggests it did not.
“They got their hands on the ball and we ended up turning it over. But we knew they were coming. And, you know, I thought our spacing was good. We just didn’t get the ball out to the right guys in a timely manner,” Brown explained.
Towns finished with 23 points and 11 rebounds. He only had two assists. Knicks finished the game with 17 turnovers.
Karl-Anthony Towns on losing games
The loss to Suns is their third straight and they have been taken over by the Boston Celtics for the no. 2 spot in the Eastern Conference standings. They lost eight of their last ten.
The team were booed by fans for the second time in a span of one week and Brown thought they deserve it.
Mike Brown was asked about Knicks fans booing the team at the end of tonight’s game:
“The fans have, in my opinion, every right to boo or to cheer or do whatever they want. They pay their hard-earned money to come to the games and this is entertainment for them, so you’ve got to… pic.twitter.com/MKPGu2znvn
— Knicks Videos (@sny_knicks) January 18, 2026
As for Towns, he is now focused on winning the next one.
Karl-Anthony Towns was asked what his level of concern is with the Knicks losing eight out of their last ten:
“I don’t like losing any games, so of course for me, the concern is winning the next one. Just staying focused on the task at hand, winning games, and giving our fans… pic.twitter.com/DMSBczIkmS
— Knicks Videos (@sny_knicks) January 18, 2026
Knicks’ next game is against the Dallas Mavericks at home on Monday.
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