It’s do or die for the New York Knicks and the status of one of their stars is in question.
Karl-Anthony Towns (left knee contusion) is listed as questionable for Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals as the series shifts back to New York with the Knicks trialing the Indiana Pacers 3-1. Towns injured his left knee late in the Knicks’ 130-121 Game 4 loss to the Pacers after he bumped knees with Pacers forward Aaron Nesmith with less than two minutes remaining in the game. Towns immediately went down and grabbed his left knee as he writhed in pain.
Towns gutted out the remainder of the game with a visible limp Tuesday and finished with 24 points, 12 rebounds and three assists, which Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau said was ‘a good sign.’ Thibodeau, however, said Towns’ status for Game 5 on Thursday will come down to an evaluation on his knee.
Here’s everything we know about Towns’ injury:
Karl-Anthony Towns injury update: Knicks center questionable
New York Knicks star Karl-Anthony Towns (left knee contusion) is listed as questionable ahead of Game 5 vs. the Indiana Pacers.
When asked about his knee on Tuesday, Towns shut down all talk of his injury and said he’s ‘only thinking about the loss.’ He added, ‘I’m not thinking about (my knee) right now. It’s disappointing when you don’t get a win and we didn’t do enough to get the job done tonight.’
Towns injured the same knee that he suffered a torn meniscus in during the 2023-24 season while playing for the Minnesota Timberwolves. He was forced to miss an entire month with the injury before returning for the 2024 playoffs.
The five-time All-Star has averaged 25.8 points, 11.5 rebounds and 1.5 assists through four games of the Eastern Conference finals. He had a team-high 24 points in the Knicks’ Game 3 comeback win, when he scored 20 of his 24 in the fourth quarter as the Knicks overcame a 20-point deficit.
‘We’ve been a team that has kind of found a way to do the impossible when it seems impossible,’ Towns said on Tuesday. ‘We just keep fighting. This is going to be a testament to our whole playoff run. Now we have to be in the biggest fight of our life and of our season.’
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