MIAMI — Karl-Anthony Towns changed uniforms and said his turbulent past with Jimmy Butler is irrelevant before he punished his old nemesis with 44 points in Wednesday’s 116-107 victory over the Heat.
“I’m a Knick,” Towns repeated three times when asked about Butler. “You’re bringing up Minnesota.
“I’m not a Timberwolf anymore. I’m a Knick.”
Butler and Towns were teammates for just over a season in Minnesota, clashing both during their tenure together and after the separation in 2019.
The most famous incident involves Butler reportedly tormenting Towns in a practice under coach Tom Thibodeau.
It transitioned quickly to Butler being traded to Philadelphia and a rift between Thibodeau and Towns.
The coach and center, now reunited in New York, squashed their beef in a subsequent conversation — “That was years and years ago,” Towns said Wednesday. “We are totally different men. So it’s cool to be in this spot in our lives together.”
But there’s been less indication of peace with Butler, as the two have jawed back-and-forth in head-to-heads.
On Wednesday morning, Heat center Bam Adebayo snickered when reminded that Butler and Towns have a history.
But he didn’t think Butler was carrying extra motivation into the Knicks game — at least not until something triggers his memory.
“I don’t think he gets fired up for matchups,” Adebayo said. “I think if they start it, that’s when it starts. Or he’ll feel like — he’ll see something, and he just digs in.
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“He’ll see body language, something small, and just goes with it.”
If anybody played with extra juice Wednesday, it was Towns, who finished his great performance with an and-1 dagger over Butler. Towns then turned away from Butler and flexed his muscle.
Butler was asked postgame specifically about Miami’s inability to stop Towns but he turned the answer into a generalization.
“I don’t believe we made too many people’s shots difficult tonight,” Butler said. “We were lazy on the defensive rebounding. I would say that’s about it.”
