“I told you about the word ‘history’ I’m not here to repeat it. We’re here to make it.” Despite going down 2-0 in the East Finals, Karl-Anthony Towns was not bothered by the mere 7.3% success rate of teams winning a series from this deficit. He proved it on Sunday by leading the Knicks to a miraculous Game 3 victory with his twenty-point fourth-quarter performance. Unfortunately, KAT was unable to continue that form tonight, as he witnessed his team lose yet another game to the Pacers. Even worse, the big man suffered an unfortunate injury scare, putting his availability in question for Thursday’s crucial encounter.

It happened in the closing minutes of the final quarter when Towns collided with a driving Aaron Nesmith. Turns out, the Knicks Center’s left knee took the brunt of the impact, as he immediately began grimacing in pain. Although he was able to continue playing, the injury was clearly bothering him as he limped for the remainder of the night. But when asked about it after the game, Towns was more worried about the loss than his hurting knee.

“I’m only thinking about the loss. I’m not thinking about that (injury) right now. Disappointing when you don’t get a win. We just didn’t do enough to get the job done tonight,” he remarked. His disappointment is justified as Towns scored only ten points in the second half, while his team needed him to play at an All-Star level.

“We all gotta be better. We all gotta be better for him (Jalen Brunson), with him. We gotta be better as a team,” he added. Of course, a major reason behind the Knicks’ underwhelming performance was that they could not keep up with the Pacers’ fast-paced offense.

“We didn’t match their pace. I know you’re gonna say that but desperation too. I think we just didn’t match what we needed to do tonight to start the game and its true fashion to our whole playoff run,” Towns said, highlighting his team’s mistakes. Well, the Knicks have made three historic 20+ point comebacks in these playoffs so far.

However, the constant struggle to overcome massive deficits was bound to take a toll on them eventually, and KAT admits it did tonight, “I’ve said it multiple times to y’all, you get burnt putting yourself in that position too many times and tonight was one of those nights where we got burnt… We just didn’t have that magic tonight.” But even though the Knicks are down 3-1, KAT has not lost hope.

Karl-Anthony Towns ready for “biggest fight of his life” as Knicks prepare for Game 5 vs Pacers

Once again, the odds are stacked against the Knicks heading into Thursday’s encounter. Only 13 teams in NBA playoffs history have gone on to win a series after going down 3-1. That’s a mere 4.4% success rate, even worse than when the New York team lost the first two games at MSG. However, as Karl-Anthony Towns has said multiple times, he is not bothered by the past. His only focus is on the next game.

“We’ve been a team that has kind of found a way to do the impossible when it always seems impossible. We just keep fighting. So, it’s gonna be a testament to our whole playoff run.” KAT said postgame, sending a stern message to the locker room. He continued, “Now, we have to be in one of the biggest fights of our lives. Starts with next game. So, just taking it game by game. Don’t look ahead. Just worry about the first quarter of the next game and we’ll deal with the rest later.”

Yes, the Knicks’ focus will be to come out with the same energy they did in Game 3 and force Game 6 by any means necessary. Of course, for that, they will need Towns at complete strength. Unfortunately, Tom Thibodeau revealed that his final status will only be confirmed after his knee is evaluated. If KAT is unable to suit up, the Knicks will be short of an elite scorer and rebounder, making it even more difficult to beat the Pacers.

The pressure will fall on Brunson and Co. to make up for KAT’s absence. So, his availability could prove pivotal for the Knicks to keep their season alive. Thoughts?