Karl-Anthony Towns misses Knicks-Pistons matchup
Karl-Anthony Towns and Jalen Brunson both were listed as questionable for the Knicks’ 120-111 loss to the Pistons on Saturday night, but only one of the team’s two leading scorers remained in the lineup.
Towns, who missed one game earlier this season with a right knee issue, was a late addition to the league’s official injury report earlier in the day and was unavailable due to what the Knicks are terming patellar tendinopathy of his left knee.
Brunson, who scored a game-high 31 points in Saturday’s loss, remained in the lineup despite suffering a lower-back contusion and sitting the final 14-plus minutes of Thursday’s win over the Hornets at the Garden following a third-quarter collision.
Towns, the four-time All-Star center who was acquired from the Timberwolves in September, is averaging a team-best 25.2 points, a shade more than Brunson’s 25.1 scoring average.
Towns’ 13.2 rebounds per game also ranked second in the league heading into Saturday’s action, behind only Denver’s three-time MVP Nikola Jokic (13.4).
Towns sat out the team’s Nov. 15 win over the Nets, marking the only game missed by any of the Knicks’ starting five this season.
Jericho Sims started that game at center, but he played only 18 minutes, with rookie Ariel Hukporti contributing seven points and four blocked shots in a career-high 30 minutes off the bench.
Sims started again Saturday night, but versatile big man Precious Achiuwa gave the Knicks another option off the bench after he made his season debut Thursday against the Hornets after missing the first 21 games with a hamstring injury.