NEW YORK — New York Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns, dealing with a right knee injury, sat out his team’s 103-94 loss to the Orlando Magic on Monday night at Madison Square Garden.
Towns, who was listed as a game-time decision, didn’t play because of right knee tendinopathy. He fell hard during the closing minutes of his 44-point, 16-rebound, 5-assist performance in the Knicks’ loss at Chicago on Saturday. He left that game because of the injury, which caused him to limp.
The 29-year-old, acquired by the Knicks in October, is putting up career-best efficiency numbers and is also averaging an NBA-best 14 rebounds. Towns is also shooting a personal-best 44% on 3-pointers and averaging 25.3 points alongside Jalen Brunson for the Knicks, who are third in the Eastern Conference.
Without Towns on the court, Cole Anthony had 24 points, and Wendell Carter Jr. added 19, as shorthanded Orlando won for the third time in its past five games.
The Knicks’ defeat, their season-high third straight, came on a night when New York shot a season-worst 18.1% (4-for-22) from 3. It was the seventh time in eight games the club has hit 35% of its triples or worse — a noteworthy slump for one of the league’s most high-powered offenses.
Coach Tom Thibodeau called the Knicks’ performance “low energy,” and acknowledged that fatigue could be one of the issues affecting the club’s top-heavy rotation — one that’s without Towns or backup guard Miles McBride (hamstring).
