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Karl-Anthony Towns #32 of the New York Knicks talks to the referee during the second quarter against the Detroit Pistons at Madison Square Garden on February 19, 2026 in New York City.
There is no more obvious statement in the NBA right now than that the Detroit Pistons have the New York Knicks‘ number. Despite playing without their two best bigs, Jalen Duren and Isaiah Stewart (suspended), the Pistons crushed the Knicks, 126-111, to sweep the season series against their Eastern Conference foe.
Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns faced a lot of criticism for his lack of aggressiveness against a shorthanded Detroit squad, as he attempted just three shots in the first half and allowed Paul Reed, Tolu Smith and Ronald Holland II to dominate the glass.
There was also an embarrassing moment when Towns had a running dunk blocked by Reed, which triggered an interesting reaction from Jalen Brunson.
Karl-Anthony Towns Gets Called Out
NBA legend Joe Johnson and NFL Hall of Famer Shannon Sharpe were among the analysts who criticized Towns for his lackadaisical approach against the Pistons.
“Sometimes I watch him, and I’m thinking he goes to the basket super weak,” Sharpe said on the “Nightcap” podcast of Towns.
“They be knocking the ball off his hands, they be blocking his shots. Come on, KAT!”
Johnson agreed with his co-host.
“KAT is a finesse big,” said Iso Joe. “He ain’t coming in with that power.”
Johnson was also shocked that the Knicks allowed the Pistons to rack up 126 points on 52% shooting (48-of-93 FG, 13-of-30 3PT) despite boasting of versatile wing defenders like OG Anunoby and Mikal Bridges.
Knicks Defense Struggles
“You ain’t guarding nobody,” Johnson said of the Knicks.
Some believe Thursday’s loss delivered a severe psychological blow to the Knicks, who entered the game as 3.5-point home favorites but were run out of the gym by an undermanned Pistons team. Although it appeared the top-seeded Pistons were extra motivated to beat the Knicks, head coach J.B. Bickerstaff downplayed that notion.
“This isn’t an us versus the Knicks thing,” Bickerstaff said of his team’s mentality going into Thursday’s game, via ESPN’s Vincent Goodwill.
“The majority of our games, we’ve played the same way, the same temperament, the same edge, defended the same. This is just basketball for us, nothing to do with the opponent.”
KAT Comfortable?
Meanwhile, Knicks head coach Mike Brown defended Towns after Thursday’s game and did not assume responsibility for the big man taking only three shots in the first half.
“He’s comfortable,” Brown said of Towns after the game, via SNY. “We’re continuing to try to do different things to help free him up. And we’ll continue to search to try to do different things to free him up throughout the course of the year.”
Towns, attempting a career-low 14.0 shots per game this season, was asked about his drastic role change, a year after he attempted 16.9 shots under Tom Thibodeau.
“I mean, our offense is our offense. It’s been that way all year,” Towns said, via SNY.
“So we have our system and we’re gonna — regardless of who’s in the game or not in the game — we run the system that we have implemented for our team to the best of our abilities.”
The Knicks (35-21) will next host the Houston Rockets (34-20) on Saturday night. Brown’s team will try to regain its form heading into the All-Star break, when it won 10 of 12 games and emerged as one of the NBA’s best defenses.
Sai Mohan covers the NBA for Heavy.com. Based in Portugal, Sai is a seasoned sports writer with nearly two decades of publishing experience, including bylines at Yardbarker, FanSided’s Hoops Habit, International Business Times, Hindustan Times and more. More about Sai Mohan
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