Mike Brown spent more than a month plotting out his move to push Karl-Anthony Towns to power forward. Even with Mitchell Robinson unavailable in the season opener, he inserted little-used center Ariel Hukporti into the starting lineup to keep Towns there.

While Towns has made the move before, he never seemed quite as comfortable in that role with Brown’s emphasis on constant running and a push for speed — so after just one game, Brown pulled the plug on that plan. He put Towns back at center, added another guard to the starting five in Deuce McBride and stepped back to watch what would happen.

With the Celtics a shadow of the team that the Knicks knocked out of the 2025 postseason, Towns led the Knicks to a convincing 105-95 win on Friday night at Madison Square Garden.

Jalen Brunson

See Full Page