In Jalen Brunson’s first two years with the Knicks, they ran essentially zero offensive plays for their centers.
Isaiah Hartenstein was a strong passer and Mitchell Robinson excelled at rolling to the rim for lobs, but their collective job essentially was to set screens and crash the glass looking to clean up offensive rebounds for putbacks or kick-outs.
Karl-Anthony Towns has a completely different offensive skill set, however, that Brunson and the Knicks are still working through three games into his Knicks tenure.
Towns took only eight shots in Monday’s home loss to the Cavaliers, the four-time All-Star’s second quiet offensive showing during the Knicks’ 1-2 start entering Wednesday’s game in Miami.
“I would say as good as Karl is, no one can take him out of a game,” Brunson said after the game. “It’s on us. It’s on me as a teammate, to make sure we’re all on the same page, making sure everyone’s eating.
“I’ve got to be better when it comes to that and I’ve got to adjust and be better.”
Towns, who was obtained in the blockbuster trade that sent Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo to Minnesota just before the start of training camp, has totaled 25 points on 17 field-goal attempts in the Knicks’ two losses.
But he scored 21 with 15 rebounds in their lone victory last Friday against the Pacers.
Unlike the departed Hartenstein and the injured Robinson, the 7-foot Towns also is an established weapon from the outside, connecting on 39.8 percent for his career from 3-point range, including a 4-for-6 success rate so far with the Knicks.
“Some of it, I want the game to tell him what to do,” Tom Thibodeau said. “Some of it is if you’re getting double-teamed in the post, then there’s different ways he’s got to get in there, as well.
“We’ve got to search that out, whether it’s transition post-ups or off of what’s going on in the game with cutting and movement.”
The 28-year-old Towns said multiple times Monday night that he needed to “watch the film” to determine how he can get himself more involved, although he also noted, “I just gotta be better.”
Even with Towns’ arrival and Thibodeau’s emphasis to shoot a higher volume from long distance this season, the Knicks have attempted the fewest 3-pointers in the league (85) ahead of Wednesday’s game against the Heat, including a 9-for-28 showing in Monday’s loss.
“That’s really a simple answer, but I just gotta watch tape to see how we can get more threes up,” Towns said. “Obviously, Boston has something in place that they showed that they could get 61 threes up [against the Knicks last week], so there may be something there to learn from.”
The Knicks also led the NBA in offensive rebounding last year, but with Towns replacing the Hartenstein-Robinson duo — and with Precious Achiuwa also sidelined to start the season — they have pulled down 29 offensive boards through three games to rank 27th in the league through Monday’s action.
“I think it’s just consistent effort,” Thibodeau said. “You’ve got to keep going. I think when you force a defense to collapse and you put them in rotation, you get the movement and it’s drive pass-pass, there’s going to be opportunities on shots that are missed to go get it.
“I thought the first half [against the Cavs] the rebounding was good, I thought the defense was good. But you’ve got to strive to be a 48-minute team and we’re nowhere near that. But we’ve got to keep working at it and keep our focus on improvement to get better each day.”