Karl-Anthony Towns has been suspended again

Karl-Anthony Towns is having a complicated second season in New York and there is no indication that the trend will reverse. The Knicks, however, confirmed their renewed form by signing a third consecutive victory, facing Sacramento. But without KAT, confined to the bench, New York made the difference in the final minutes.

The Dominican center’s playing time has been declining, especially since the start of 2026. Still, at least on the front end, Karl-Anthony Towns is making sure he won’t let that situation faze him.

Among the pack leaders, Karl-Anthony Towns spent the final 6 minutes and 51 seconds watching his bench teammates extend the gap. When he left, the Knicks were leading a painful 82-78. Then the locals finished with 21-9, significantly increasing the defensive intensity and more fluidity in the attack.

“You saw what you saw, but we won”, he told the mediaa smile on his lips, as if he had already anticipated the question. “That’s the most important thing.”

63 minutes in three matches

This Tuesday, KAT were content with 27 minutes, a far cry from last season’s average of 35 and even below the 2025/26 average (31.6 minutes prior to this fixture). In January alone, Karl-Anthony Towns only exceeded 30 minutes five times – sometimes because of mistakes, like three days earlier against the Sixers (16 minutes), sometimes because the script of certain matches changed quickly.

This time the reason is clear: New York was doing very well without him, and Mike Brown decided not to touch the winning formula. Asked about the possible upsets related to this drop in playing time, Karl-Anthony Towns responded succinctly: “We have to win. That’s the most important thing. That’s all that matters to me.”

Deuce McBride and Mitchell Robinson were the main beneficiaries of Brown’s picks in the fourth quarter. The five of McBride, Jalen Brunson, Mikal Bridges, O.G. Anunobia and Robinson barely shared the court this season — only about fifteen minutes. However, the chemistry felt natural, and this group allowed the Knicks to definitely take the measure of the flashy Kings.

Mitchell Robinson said hello

“In the rhythm of a match, you find a group of players who seem to work well together, and you stick with them for as long as possible”explains Mike Brown.

“At the end of the match, we had a group on the field that played well. It was tight, so I insisted on this five until the end, as before. We had Deuce who is not a starter and Mitch who is not even a starter. We had to win. And the most important thing is that apart from Michal Bridges, who again played a reasonable amount of minutes – everyone had a reasonable amount of minutes – we had 37 minutes again. tomorrow »

New York continues its back-to-back at Toronto on Wednesday and should be able to count on a fresher – and perhaps more vindictive – Karl-Anthony Towns. Despite a decent performance on paper (17 points on 5/15, 11 rebounds) against the Kings, the pivot will want to erase this ending of the match on the bench, and a particularly impressive streak: Russell Westbrook sent him to the defense for a large part of the match, despite the difference in size. Sacramento’s leader came out with honors, making up for it with his intensity, even going so far as to break out his opponent, unable to sustainably punish him with his back to the basket.

Meanwhile, Mitchell Robinson received praise from his coach: “Our defender of the match, the one who had a very high impact throughout, was Mitch”declared Mike Brown.

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How to read statistics? MJ = matches played; Min = Minute; Shots = Shots Successful / Shots Attempted; 3 points = 3 points / attempt 3 points; LF = free throws made / free throws attempted; Off = offensive rebound; Def=defensive jump; Tot = Total number of jumps; Pd = assists; Fte: Personal mistakes; Int = intercepts; Bp = lost balls; Ct: Against; Points = Points.