He doesn’t carry the same burdens as the two giants who’ve led the Knicks previously during their dances with glory and prosperity. Willis Reed was a center cast out of the old-school model: ferocious rebounding and interior dominance (even giving away a few inches to just about every center he ever played).
Patrick Ewing? When he was at his best, he was a two-way force, gobbling up ever-important rebounds and demanding the ball in every important moment of every game he ever played as a Knick. Both Reed and Ewing could shoot from the perimeter, but in those years, there was no 3-point shot, and there were others who would help themselves from deep.
Karl-Anthony Towns is as talented as either of those past icons of Knicks granite. Now, for as long as these Knicks playoffs last, he will be a focal point of all they do — good and bad. Saturday night’s Game 1 of the Eastern Conference’s opening round against the Pistons was merely the first step in what he hopes to be a melding of time and place, Towns etching his name next to those forever names.
And no better way to dive into the postseason chapter of his career than in front of the expectant eyes of Madison Square Garden.
