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Karl-Anthony Towns provided a reminder of one of comedy’s greatest lessons.
During Jalen Brunson’s “Saturday Night Live” monologue, Towns asked him, “Can you foul out of ‘SNL?’” It poked fun at last season’s constant issue of getting into foul trouble.
“I feel like all jokes,” Towns said after Knicks practice Thursday, “have some truth to [them], right?”
This joke once again has become a Knicks reality.
Towns got into early foul trouble during the season-opening 106-100 loss to the 76ers on Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden. It limited him to just 23 minutes — and only six in the first half.
It was a recurring flaw last season. Towns, due to foul trouble, only played 23 minutes and had just two points in the Knicks’ championship-clinching win in Game 5 of the NBA Finals.
Most maddening is that often Towns’ fouls aren’t preventing layups or making an opponent earn it at the line. He is picking up cheap, avoidable ones on the offensive end.
Head coach Mike Brown believes he’s too good to be doing that.
“This is known because we talk about it, and he got better [last season], to his credit,” Brown said Thursday. “He got better as the year went along. This is a new year, new team, new challenges, but I don’t want him to take 10 steps backwards. But if he takes a couple steps backward, and we gotta figure it out, I’m OK with it.
“And where I’m going with it is, the 3-pointer that he shot with [Tyrese] Maxey closing out to him, he did [commit a foul]. He stuck his leg out, trying to [draw a foul]. He’s a good enough player to where he doesn’t need to look for and/or try to draw the foul; just make the basket. Some guys say, you’re like, ‘Hey man, try to get fouled here when you’re doing it.’ No, no, no, KAT, you’re a freaking perennial All-Star. So just make the bucket, and if he happens to foul you, then great.”
Andre Drummond filled in admirably in the first half Tuesday with Towns forced to the bench.
But that expanded workload is not ideal for the 33-year-old Drummond, who Brown said looked fatigued in the second half.
Towns’ foul woes are a big reason the depth behind him at center was such a talking point this past offseason.
“Obviously, I never want to put my team in that kind of position,” Towns said. “So I have to do a better job, not only in the regular season but in the postseason, to make sure I’m available for my team.”