After the Knicks won Game 5, Charles Barkley chose to ask Karl Anthony Towns his face about one of his main issues.
The New York Knicks kept the season alive, looking after the Indiana Pacers in Game 5. A comfortable 111-94 victory shows the Knicks aren’t finished yet.
Karl-Anthony Towns and Jalen Brunson matched the records of Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal in victory. The duo led the way to New York with 24 and 32 points respectively.
Tyrees Halliburton’s Game 5 Disaster Class certainly helped, but the Pacers players didn’t wake it up at night. Indiana’s best night’s run came as the town got caught in foul trouble.
This is a frequent issue with KAT, something that NBA legend brought after the game.
Town had five personal fouls in the evening, winning fourth in the third quarter. Indiana had no answers for him on Thursday night, but he got out of the game for a while.
Charles Berkley and the NBA’s internal crew noticed this. In an interview with Kat shortly after his victory, Berkley called out to him for his decision.
“I have to criticize you. Oh, why do you get a stupid foul on them? Why do you do that?” Berkley said to the face of town. “I had the same question,” the 29-year-old laughed, and O’Neal added.
“God only knows,” replied the town. “I have to do a much better job of it… I can’t. You’re not wrong, you’re not wrong. It hurts our team.
“Again, I want to scream on the bench. Akkuwa, who’s coming in. Even when I make these mistakes, they’re holding it down. But I have to fix it.”
A lot has been done about preferring to play big minutes of Tom Thibodeau’s Starters. Since arriving in New York, the town has relied on even more than he has been with the Timberwolves.
This means that the big man must stay in court. But his fouling stats during these playoffs aren’t great reading.
Kat averages 4.3 personal fouls per game throughout the playoffs. This is something he’s been fouled before during the postseason. It is the best mark of his career.
This affects the rotation and the consistency of the big man himself. In some way, he will need to fix the issue if New York wins a championship at this core.
