New York– nix Center carl-anthony town He was revealed to be dealing with a Grade 2 quad strain, which led to a “will he or won’t he” situation in the hours before Wednesday night’s season-opening 119-111 win. cleveland cavaliers At Madison Square Garden.
Shortly before game time, Towns declared himself fit to play, then scored 19 points and 12 rebounds in 31 minutes in a matchup between two favorites in the Eastern Conference.
The decision to play Towns came after the Knicks downgraded him to questionable on the injury report Wednesday afternoon, then upgraded him to questionable an hour later.
“I’ve been sore a lot and I haven’t really had a chance to practice or play the last two preseason games,” Towns said before revealing the severity of his quad strain. “I didn’t want to disappoint the fans. It’s not something that’s easy to deal with.” [but] “We made it happen tonight.”
Asked if he was in pain while playing, Towns said, “It was definitely hurting.” He did not say whether this would affect his availability for Friday’s match. boston celtics,
On some plays, Towns used his frame to overpower the Cavaliers’ big man evan mobleyHe didn’t stray too far from the 3-point line, taking only four attempts. The Knicks have emphasized playing fast, but Towns showed he can still play bully ball on occasion.
a flurry from Donovan Mitchell (31 points) gave the Cavaliers a slight lead in the fourth quarter, but the Knicks immediately put it away with a 14–0 run to take a 101–89 lead with 8:45 remaining. All the damage was done to the leading scorer and clutch player of the year Jalen Brunson On the bench for your general rest.
Towns shrugged off early foul trouble to have a productive night for the Knicks, who were already without two regulars: center Michelle Robinson (load management) and swingman josh hart (Back). Being without a third rotation player would have forced coach Mike Brown to dig deeper into his bench during his first game as Knicks coach.
Towns’ uncertain status added intrigue to a game that already had a lot going on, including Brown getting his first taste of the enormous expectations that await him after his predecessor, Tom Thibodeau, helped lead the Knicks to their first conference finals since 2000.
Brown used 11 players in the opening period, somewhat of a new development from the previous regime, and the Knicks held a comfortable lead for large parts of the night.
“This team is a deep team,” Brown said. “I give a lot of credit to Leon Rose and his group. It’s my job to keep finding combinations that work. I’ve also got a lot of room to grow.”
He said: “I can learn quickly because we have a lot of guys who can play. I don’t know if I’ll play with 11 guys every night, but we like to play with as many guys as possible.”
It wasn’t Brown’s first round at Madison Square Garden, but the energy was different for this season opener. He said that Spike Lee greeted him before the game and that he was surprised that Lee knew who he was.
Brown was asked if it took him some time to realize the expectations from the outside world, and he explained that the inner world is equally important.
“Our expectations are very high. Whether we win or lose, it’s the same game,” Brown said. “We don’t feel like we’re anywhere near what we’re capable of doing, and that’s what makes it exciting.”
