New York Knicks star big man Karl-Anthony Towns attempted to downplay a finger injury that he suffered during Saturday afternoon’s 115-93 Game 3 loss to the Boston Celtics at Madison Square Garden.
“It is what it is,” Towns said. “I just want to do whatever I can to be out there… I’m gonna keep finding ways to play, so I ain’t tripping.”
He declined to answer whether or not he underwent any imaging on the hand after the game, adding, “I’ll let [the team] tell you that.”
As of Sunday morning, the team has done no such thing.
Such a nonchalant answer provided a direct contrast to what lip readers attempted to decipher during the blowout loss, which halved the Knicks’ series lead to 2-1, with Game 4 coming up on Monday.
Towns was in obvious discomfort, clutching at his left hand during the second quarter after attempting a floater over Boston’s Al Horford and Jrue Holiday. Later in the game, Towns was shown on the ABC telecast appearing to tell teammates that “I think I broke it,” while pointing to a finger on that hand.
Playing through the pain, Towns finished with 21 points and 15 rebounds. His status for Game 4 is unchanged, for now.
“It’s the playoffs,” Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau said. “People are going to get hit, and you have to play through things. That’s why you do it the entire season. No one’s playing 100%. You have to understand that you can play well when you’re feeling less than your best; that’s all part of it. I think the mental toughness part of this in the playoffs is huge.”
Towns has averaged 19.7 points per game in the playoffs, which is nearly five points fewer than the 24.4 he averaged during the regular season — his first in New York after being acquired from the Minnesota Timberwolves.
