The Knicks’ win streak coincides with a major rotation shift.
Over the last five games, all victories for Mike Brown’s basketball club, Karl-Anthony Towns has been seated on the sidelines a bit more than he’s used to.
Towns is averaging just 25.4 minutes per game during that stretch, which is his fewest over any five-game period since his rookie season in November 2015.
He’s played more than 30 minutes in just one of those games – last Wednesday against the Raptors – and 20 or fewer in two contests.
As expected, Towns’ scoring is down over that stretch and there’s reason to believe he’s becoming a smaller part of the offense as well, averaging just 12.6 points per game on 10 shots a contest.
It’s an extremely small sample size, but Towns may be compensating with some extra focus on the boards.
He’s pulled down at least 20 rebounds in each of the Knicks’ past two games.
While Towns’ offense is missed, the move has apparently worked out, having snapped the Knicks’ season-long four-game skid and going undefeated since Towns’ minutes were cut back.
Their defense has looked unstoppable over that stretch, allowing fewer than 100 points, including just 66 against the Nets, in four of the five games.
Betting on the NBA?
With all that success for the Knicks as a team, I don’t expect anything to change Sunday night when the Lakers come to Madison Square Garden.
Look for another quiet night for the five-time All-Star.
The play: Karl-Anthony Towns Under 18.5 points (-105, BetMGM)
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Dylan Svoboda is a versatile writer and analyst across many sports. He’s particularly knowledgeable about the big three — MLB, the NFL and the NBA.