Jalen Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns share solution to Knicks’ foul troubles

NEW YORK – Karl-Anthony Towns furrowed his brow, slightly, while fielding what might have been the fifth question of his postgame press conference regarding his four personal fouls. Once again, the New York Knicks came out on top of the Philadelphia 76ers in Game 2. And, just like in Game 1, their All-Star center committed four fouls and saw his playing time decrease as a result.

“It’s a lot of foul questions. I wonder why,” Towns said facetiously in response to the monotonous subject matter of the availability.

The big man’s joke might read like a typical deflection of blame onto the officials. But despite the win, it was the only time that Towns’ tone regarding the fouls was anything other than contrite.

The Knicks pulled out the win on Wednesday night, giving them a 2-0 series lead to pack for their trip down I-95. But even with Joel Embiid out, the 76ers shot three more free throws over the course of the night. That brought the free-throw discrepancy in the series thus far to 62-42, with Philadelphia attempting the extra 20.

“It don’t matter,” Towns responded when given opportunity to question any of his four called fouls. “I’ll look at the tape. I’ll get better, more disciplined. And I don’t want to put my team in that position again, so I got to do a better job.”

Jalen Brunson, the Knicks’ captain, stressed how important it is for them to solve their issues with fouls thus far. Whenever the team is in the midst of some kind of slump, Brunson cites attention to detail as both a central issue and their path forward. He revealed after the 108-102 victory that defending without fouling is certainly included in those initiatives.

“Those are the details I’m talking about that we have to pay attention to. I mean, it can be a difference maker,” Towns said. “The small things can be a very big difference maker. Just gotta pay attention, make sure that we’re all on the same page, and focus on our gameplan.”

Brown said the Knicks need to lead with their chests and show their hands to avoid getting whistled for their defense. Brunson and Towns clearly got that memorandum. They’ll have a pair of chances in Philadelphia to apply it.

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