Towns gives the Knicks another way to attack Philadelphia

Karl-Anthony Towns had a double-double when Philadelphia beat the Knicks on opening night. New York needs more than a repeat of the box score when the teams meet again Friday.

Towns finished that 106-100 loss with 19 points and 12 rebounds. Andre Drummond added 12 points and 14 boards off the bench. The production was useful, but the 76ers still controlled enough possessions to spoil New York's championship celebration.

The Knicks can make Philadelphia defend the whole floor

Towns followed with 19 points, 13 rebounds and five assists in Wednesday's comeback win at Chicago. His passing gives New York a different way to attack if the 76ers commit extra attention to Jalen Brunson. An early touch for Towns can become a scoring chance for him or a pass to a cutter before the defense is set.

I'd use those possessions alongside Brunson's pick-and-roll work rather than relying on one action all night. Philadelphia has Joel Embiid in the middle when healthy, and forcing a center to make repeated decisions away from the rim can open a different look.

Drummond gives Brown another option. His rebounding helped in the opener, and his minutes can preserve Towns without asking the starting center to handle every physical possession. The tradeoff is that the two centers create different spacing; the best choice will depend on who is defending them and which lineup is scoring.

The alternative is to lean harder on Brunson and use Towns primarily as a spot-up threat. That can work when Brunson is seeing the floor as well as he did in Chicago, where he scored 38 points with seven assists.

Friday's game starts at 7:30 p.m. Eastern in Philadelphia. Health and foul trouble can change the rotation, and the opener is only one game. The useful test is whether New York can turn its frontcourt depth into better possessions, not simply accumulate rebounds in another close loss.