It didn’t take long for Karl-Anthony Towns to impact his regular-season debut at the Garden, for Towns — the preseason blockbuster acquisition — to elevate toward the rim, slam the ball through the net, hang on for an extra second and then let out a roar.
This was the version of Towns, one of the NBA’s premier centers, the Knicks traded for.
The one who patiently waited on the right block as a chaotic play unfolded in the opposite corner and converted his chance once the ball arrived.
The one who finished his second regular-season game as a Knick with 21 points, 15 rebounds, two blocks, a steal and 10 free-throw attempts.
It was a “really good, all-around game” from Towns, head coach Tom Thibodeau said after the Knicks’ 123-98 victory over the Pacers on Friday night — with his dunk and ensuing celebration a thunderous layer of that performance.
“I guess you could say that,” Towns said postgame when asked if felt the energy from the crowd immediately. “I just always want to impose a lot of energy into the game and amplify my teammates, and I thought that was a good opportunity [with the dunk] to get some energy instilled to us — and the crowd obviously was bringing a lot of energy.”
The limited two-game sample of the 2024-25 season has provided a fitting glimpse of what Towns added to the Knicks when they acquired him in a late September trade from the Timberwolves.
It forced president Leon Rose to part with Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo, though, and forced Thibodeau to tweak his starting lineup and rotations, which took — and will continue to take — time before clicking regularly.
In the preseason, the Knicks preached the need for patience.
Their season-opening loss to the Celtics, when they allowed 29 3-pointers and couldn’t match that output offensively, provided the latest example of that.
The Knicks couldn’t microwave chemistry, but they still had plenty of time to work with — an entire regular season worth of games instead of the sprint that follows deals before the trade deadline.
Even between Game 1 and Game 2, though, there were strides.
Towns said that the Knicks defense, which held Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton scoreless, created easier layups and opportunities while on offense.
The Knicks “did a good job of sharing the ball,” Towns added, with four of their starters finishing with 20 or more points.
They were balanced. They didn’t bank on Jalen Brunson pouring in 40-plus points. They could turn to Brunson or Towns or Josh Hart or Mikal Bridges, and all of them, at least that night against Indiana, were effective.
Towns made 5 of 11 shots from the field, while getting to the free-throw line on five different occasions — including four times in the second half, as the Knicks continued to pull away.
Before his dunk in the opening quarter, Towns backed down Indiana’s Myles Turner toward the block before spinning around and hitting a five-foot floater.
Then, in the final seconds of the first half, the Pacers doubled Brunson off a screen, allowing for Towns to roll outside the 3-point line without a defender tracking him. He made the shot.
He held the form for an extra second. And he added a little shimmy celebration, too.
That carried into the third quarter, when Towns snagged an offensive rebound after Hart missed a 3-pointer — fighting for position, dribbling once and then elevating for another hook shot.
Isaiah Hartenstein and Mitchell Robinson helped the Knicks turn offensive rebounding into a strength during past seasons, and Towns, along with others, will be tasked with filling that void with Robinson out for the foreseeable future while recovering from left ankle surgery and Hartenstein now with the Thunder.
So the Knicks’ ability to reach their potential with the current collection of players could still take time.
It might not happen in the first month, the first quarter, maybe even the first half of the season. But Friday was an early reminder of how Towns fits into that — and can raise their ceiling.
“I’m learning a lot,” Brunson said of playing with Towns. “He has so much gravity on the floor when he’s out there. People have to respect that. Obviously, he’s one of the best shooters in the league.”
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