Just a few hours before the New York Knicks tipped off on Wednesday night against the Charlotte Hornets, reports surfaced that Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo had asked the team to facilitate a trade to send him somewhere else. Given his stated desire over the summer to be dealt to the Knicks, multiple sources began finding ways in which the Knicks could finally swing a deal to add the All-Star and make a push for an elusive NBA title.
Almost all of those trade scenarios included sending Karl Anthony Towns out of town. This also comes after the Knicks didn’t agree to a contract extension with Towns before the October deadline. Yet, despite all of that noise, it was Towns who carried the team to a 119-104 victory on Wednesday night with a 35-point, 18-rebound, five-assist showing.
Coming off a tough loss on the road against the Boston Celtics on Tuesday, the Knicks looked noticeably fatigued in the second game of their back-to-back. Their jumpshots consistently fell short. Their passes were not nearly as crisp or well-timed, and the defense was frequently sloppy. Fortunately for them, the now 6-16 Charlotte Hornets were similarly sloppy, and a determined Towns was more than enough to help them pull out the win.
Not that the Knicks didn’t try to let Charlotte pry the game away. After leading by 15 at the end of the first quarter, the Knicks built a 20-point lead with 7:18 left in the first half. The Hornets couldn’t seem to buy a bucket, and the Knicks were getting easy looks in transition. It seemed like they would cruise to a victory. However, the Hornets went on a 26-9 run to pull the game to within three before a Jalen Brunson buzzer-beater half-court three gave the Knicks a six-point cushion going into the half.
Brunson finished with 26 points and five assists of his own, while shooting just 1-for-5 from beyond the arc for his second straight mediocre shooting night. Still, the Knicks built up another huge lead in the third quarter before LaMelo Ball pulled the Hornets back to within eight again in the fourth. Ball paced the visitors with 34 points on 12-of-27 from the field (5-of-13 from beyond the arc), with nine assists, and eight rebounds, while rookie Kon Knueppel chipped in 13 points, four rebounds, and four assists.
But at the end of the day, Towns and the Knicks were simply too much.
Karl Anthony Towns dominates with physical performance
With Brunson mired in another poor shooting night to start the game, it was Karl Anthony Towns who paced the Knicks from the start, scoring eight points and securing four rebounds before the game’s first timeout was called. The big man showed off tremendous playmaking ability all night, dishing out five assists and throwing a few other impressive passes that didn’t wind up in made baskets.
In addition, unlike many of his other outstanding performances this season, Towns showed off his versatility on Wednesday night by doing much of his damage in the paint.
The big man, who came into the game attempting 5.3 three-point attempts per game, only attempted one three-point shot in the first quarter and a half of action. Instead, he bullied the Hornets in the paint, scoring eight of his first 10 points in the restricted area, including a sequence with five minutes remaining in the first quarter where he was blocked twice by Hornets back-up center Ryan Kalkbrenner, but grabbed two offensive rebounds and then finished with a layup in traffic.
On the night, 20 of his 35 points came in the paint. He came into the game averaging 10.6 points in the paint per game, which was tied for 27th in the NBA, behind smaller players like De’Aaron Fox, Jaylen Brown, Jaime Jaquez Jr., and Tyrese Maxey, among others. He also attempts only 7.1 shots per game in the restricted area per game.
However, Towns and the Knicks saw a matchup advantage against a Hornets team that allows the 7th-most made field goals per game inside of five feet. The Hornets also came into the day 22nd in FG% allowed in the paint, but they had allowed the 12th-fewest attempts in the paint per game in the league.
They were not so fortunate on Wednesday.
Hornets have an interesting decision at the center position
When most people think of the Hornets, they think of LaMelo Ball hoisting up threes from any spot on the court or the impressive rookie season of Kon Knueppel. However, the Hornets also have an intriguing center duo of Moussa Diabete and Ryan Kalkbrenner.
While neither player is a household name, they are important parts of the Hornets' rotation, and figuring out how to stagger their minutes has been a unique challenge for head coach Charles Lee.
Diabate, who started the game on Wednesday, is a 23-year-old former second-round pick who is averaging 9.3 points, 8.0 rebounds, 1.2 assists, and 1.1 blocks in 23 minutes per game. Kalkbrenner, who, at 7’1”, is three inches taller than Diabate, is also a 23-year-old second-round pick who is averaging 9.0 points, 6.6 rebounds, and 1.8 blocks while shooting 81.1% from the field.
Even though neither player is a dangerous scorer, they are a big reason why the Hornets rank 13th in the NBA in offensive rebounding and 14th in rebounding overall.
While Coach Lee seems to use a “hot hand” approach to determine which big man gets more minutes, it seems that the team has been more effective overall with Diabate on the court.
The former Michigan Wolverine is smaller than Kalkbrenner but more athletic and a dynamic offensive rebounder. The Hornets have +15 Expected Wins with Diabate on the court. Their offense is 7.3 points per possession better, and their offensive rebounding rate improves by 10.8%. Meanwhile, the Hornets have -24 Expected Wins with Kalkbrenner on the court and are 11.6 points per possession worse.
Despite Kalkbrenner’s shot-blocking ability, the Hornets are also a better defense with Diabate on the court and have a 4.7% better defensive turnover rate in his minutes. With the Hornets struggling to establish consistency during the 2025-26 season, it might not be a bad idea for them to see what happens if they give Diabate a more extended run.
Josh Hart continues to pace Knicks after slow start
When the season began, there were a few questions surrounding Knicks wing Josh Hart. The man who seemingly never left the floor under the previous head coach, Tom Thibodeau, was likely going to be coming off the bench and playing significantly fewer minutes than he had before.
Then, in training camp, Hart aggravated a nerve injury in the ring finger of his shooting hand, which causes his finger to swell and go numb, obviously impacting his shooting and ball-handling. Hart decided to delay surgery until after the season, but the results were not good early in the year.
In the first 10 games of the season, Hart averaged 8.4 points, 6.2 rebounds, 3.7 assists, and 0.8 steals in 23.8 minutes per night. He was shooting 44.4% from the field (33.3% from deep) with a 51% effective field goal rate
On top of his offensive struggles, he was posting an uncharacteristically poor 116.1 defensive rating and a 10.1 Player Impact Estimate. He seemed frustrated by his performance and his role, and there was some worry that he might not fit into Mike Brown’s new system as well as he had under Thibodeau.
Well, beginning with an exciting win on November 14th over the Miami Heat in the NBA Cup, Hart has changed the entire narrative on his season. Over his last nine games, coming into Wednesday, Hart was averaging 15.7 points, 9.4 rebounds, 6.4 assists, and 1.8 steals in 34.3 minutes per game. He's shooting 55.3% from the field (45% from deep) with a 65% effective field goal rate.
His defensive rating had also improved to 113.7, and his Player Impact Estimate was up to 14.6.
His performance has not gone unnoticed as head coach Mike Brown put the blame on himself for Hart’s poor start: “I'll take the hit on that…The tough part was, even backing up further, [Hart] didn't really play in the preseason; he didn't even really practice in the preseason. So, for me, I was behind the eight ball and was really trying to figure out how to incorporate him with what we're trying to do. It just took time, and he was extremely patient with the process…His sacrifice was unbelievable because when I took him out, he just sat. When I called his number, he went out and played. But more importantly, his belief in the process, even if he thought I was wrong, was awesome.”
On Wednesday, Hart only scored 15 points and was seemingly everywhere, also registering eight rebounds and eight assists with one block, one steal, and a +/- of 12. The veteran is back to being an impactful player in addition to just a team leader, and that has helped the Knicks win six of their last eight games.
Raphielle Johnson
