A lot of things went wrong for the New York Knicks on Sunday, and they suffered an injury scare with their All-Star center late in the fourth quarter of their 118-105 loss to the Boston Celtics.
Knicks’ Tom Thibodeau was heavily criticized for putting an injured Karl-Anthony Towns back in a blowout game
After attempting to dunk on Celtics center Kristaps Porzingis, Karl-Anthony Towns was seen limping toward the Knicks’ bench and subsequently went to the locker room after a knee issue took him out of the game in the fourth quarter. Towns emerged from the locker room shortly after and even checked back into the game with less than five minutes left in regulation.
However, Towns was hobbled playing through the pain in his knee, and the Knicks might have been better off sitting him for the rest of the game considering that they were down by double digits at that point. The decision to put him back in was met with hard criticism, including from insider Tommy Beer.
“[Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau] sending KAT back into a regular-season game in February of 2025 in which NY is down 20 and with less than 4 minutes remaining after KAT just crumpled to the bench in pain clutching his left knee and limped back to the locker room… is indefensible. Period,” Beer posted on X. “It’s reckless and short-sighted and unjustifiable.”
The Knicks need to prioritize player health going forward
Thibodeau later said after the game that Towns told him his knee was fine and that he was good to go back on the floor. However, the situation of the game did not justify bringing back in an injured player, regardless of what the player said about how he feels, and the Knicks need to prioritize keeping players healthy in time for the playoffs.
The Knicks will hope that Towns’ knee issue won’t keep him out of action for too long. They may have dodged a bullet with the worst-case scenario, but going forward, the team needs to take a more cautious approach with their players.
Towns finished the game with 24 points and 18 rebounds, but it was not enough as the Knicks fell short of defeating the Celtics on the road. New York is now 0-7 against the top three teams in the league.