It is no secret that the New York Knicks need to be strong defensively, particularly in the front-court. Many have questioned whether Karl-Anthony Towns can help make that happen as the Knicks’ starting center, with head coach Mike Brown depending on him to play the majority of games there even with Mitchell Robinson healthy. But contrary to a career-long trend regarding flaws in coverage, Towns has been exceptional on defense lately. And the metrics over a sufficient sample size are there to back him up.
Throughout the last 15 games, amongst centers who have suited up for at least 10 of them and averaged 15 or more minutes, Towns has the second-best defensive rating in the NBA at 99.