On Tuesday, Karl-Anthony Towns dismissed his quiet offensive night.
All that mattered, he said then, was the Knicks prevailed.
“It’s not about the individual performances, it’s about this team finding a way to put up a win on the board,” Towns said. “I think that’s what’s special.”
Two nights later, he regained his form.
While it wasn’t Towns the distributor, as it has been since the Knicks made a tweak to their offense during the opening-round series against the Hawks, he was pretty effective nonetheless.
With the Cavaliers looking to take away Jalen Brunson, others emerged in the orange and blue’s one-sided, 109-93 Game 2 victory at the Garden.
Towns was terrific, notching 18 points on 7-of-12 shooting, 13 rebounds and a plus-18 rating in 36 strong minutes.
He hit three 3-pointers, equaling his most in these playoffs.
It was a very different Towns from the Eastern Conference finals opener, when he was limited to 13 points on 6-of-14 shooting along with seven turnovers.
He was aggressive, made quick decisions and scored in a variety of ways — from beyond the arc and on the interior.
At times, he overpowered Cavaliers big men Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen.
On other occasions, he shot over them.
The performance continued Towns’ strong postseason.
It has also shown his ability to adjust, from scorer to distributor back to scorer again.
“I’ve always just thinking about impacting winning. As long as I can do that every single day I step on the court, I just thin about that,” Towns said recently. “How can I help my teammates be the best version of themselves with my game, and do whatever it takes to help our team be in a position to win. As long as I do that every single night, I’m happy with the man I see in the mirror.”