The New York Knicks have finally broken their duck to start the 2026-27 season. On Tuesday night, they hosted the Detroit Pistons and promptly earned their first victory of the season, taking a 111-97 victory behind a strong outing from Karl-Anthony Towns.

Towns, amid the Knicks' inconsistencies to begin the new campaign, has been filling up the stat sheet. On Tuesday, he recorded 27 points and 20 rebounds on 12-of-21 shooting from the field, taking advantage of a Pistons team that was without Jalen Duren.

Unlike last season, Towns has hit the ground running for this campaign. And for him, he made it clear to Alan Hahn of MSG Network what has made the difference for him this year.

“Just want to give these fans wins. Just trying to give the best version of myself every single night. Protect home court, protect these fans. Just doing my job. I just want to do my job at a high level,” Towns said.

Karl-Anthony Towns on the importance on grabbing the first W of the season at The Garden. @alanhahn | @NYKnicks | #AlwaysKnicks pic.twitter.com/PxHv1oDUyE

— KNICKS ON MSG (@KnicksMSGN) October 28, 2026

Last year, it took some time for Towns to acclimate to new head coach Mike Brown's system. But in the end, the Knicks star was able to find his rhythm and establish himself as one of the team's best players.

Article Continues Below

Perhaps it helps Towns on the mental side of the ball as well that he's up for a new contract and he's raring to prove the Knicks front office that he deserves a bigger payday than the franchise appears to be willing to give him at the moment.

Through the first four games of the 2026-27 season, Towns has been the Knicks' best player. He's averaging 22.5 points, 14.0 rebounds, and 2.8 assists per game on 60/38/74 shooting splits, helping cover for Jalen Brunson's shooting inefficiencies (36.6% shooting through four games) to start the new year.

Towns will look to keep his strong start to the season going tomorrow night when they hit the road to face the Chicago Bulls at 8:00 PM E.T.