The anger aimed at Karl-Anthony Towns after the Knicks' 106-104 loss in Indiana is misplaced. He caught the ball on the low block, turned, faded, and missed at the buzzer. Sure. But the game was lost a half-second earlier, when the Knicks decided the shot they wanted with their season sliding away was a turnaround jumper over a set defense.
⚡ Upset:Pacers had a 30% chance before tip-off and beat Knicks 106–104.
Start with what was actually possible. New York forced a turnover on a Pacers sideline inbounds play with 2.8 seconds left, trailing by two. It's a gift, but a gift with strings attached: you can't inbound the ball, drive the lane, absorb contact, and finish through traffic in 2.8 seconds. Anyone demanding a hard rim attack is describing a possession that never existed. There was only time for a catch and a shot.
The real question was who should've caught that inbound pass, and where. That falls on the coaching staff. Jalen Brunson had just put up 33 points and 11 assists. His driving layup cut it to 106-102 with 26 seconds left. Mikal Bridges then scored to make it a two-point game with 10 seconds left, the bucket that set up the final sequence. Brunson was the one who'd kept the Knicks alive all night, yet when the inbounds pass came, it went to Towns on the block, not through him.
RatingRatingAsk Towns to catch, turn, and fade from the post in under three seconds and you're asking for a miracle. He was 9-for-18 on the night, grabbed 15 rebounds, and ran his double-double streak to 12 straight games to open the season, a franchise record. He's a career 50-percent-plus shooter. None of that makes a short-clock turnaround off a standing catch a good look. It's the highest-degree-of-difficulty shot you could draw up in that spot, and the Knicks drew it up on purpose.
This game slipped away well before the final shot. The Knicks were down 14 late in the third, clawed back to a tie early in the fourth, then watched Indiana pull away on a decisive run. They let a shorthanded Pacers team, playing without Tyrese Haliburton, control the stretch that mattered. But a team with this roster should survive a bad quarter and win a one-possession game at the end. The chance was right there, handed to them by a Pacers giveaway, and the plan was a prayer from the block.
RTGThe loss dropped New York to 0-2 in NBA Cup group play and 6-6 on the season, with the defending Cup champions now at the bottom of their group. Towns didn't draw up that last possession. Mike Brown's staff did, and they're the ones who should answer for it.
