The New York Knicks secured a 105-104 Game 2 win over the San Antonio Spurs on Friday, and Karl-Anthony Towns‘ two-way play is one of the reasons why his team is up 2-0 in the NBA Finals.

Towns produced 21 points (team-high), 13 rebounds, and four assists on 8-for-12 shooting from the field in 34 minutes. After the game, the New York Knicks center received some Finals MVP endorsements from Shaquille O’Neal and Charles Barkley.

“He’s been criticized in Minnesota,” Barkley said on Inside the NBA. “He’s been criticized in New York. The MVP of the Finals is going to be Karl-Anthony Towns. He has played two of the best games I’ve ever seen a big man play. He was great in Game 1. He was great in Game 2. That man earned his flowers.”

“He’s playing with pace. He’s playing smart. He’s playing inside. He’s outside. He’s controlling the offense with the pass sometimes. And listen, he is just playing unbelievable basketball right now. And I agree with you. If it ended today, he would definitely be the Most Valuable Player,” O’Neal continued.

New York Knicks News: Karl-Anthony Towns downplays big performances vs. San Antonio Spurs

Karl-Anthony Towns has been invaluable to the New York Knicks this postseason due to his production and interior presence. Even if he’s not getting all the recognition, the six-time All-Star doesn’t mind because he is just happy to help his team win games.

“For me, I’m just happy to be finding ways to win,” Towns told the New York Post. “I’m just worried about the team result, which is winning. This team leans on each other. I think that’s why we’ve gotten here.”

“That’s why we had the success we had during the regular season, even when things weren’t going great because at the end of the day when things do get tough, and the trials and tribulations do present themselves, this team doesn’t disband. They don’t go away from each other. We lean into each other even more,” he continued.

Karl-Anthony Towns played one of his best games since joining the New York Knicks in Game 1 of the NBA Finals, and he also gave his best interview after it.

Jalen Brunson looked angry after the Knicks took Game 1 of the Finals on the road against the Spurs. He looked angry at the San Antonio fans, he looked angry at the officials, he looked angry at the way the Knicks played, even in a win. But when Towns joined Inside the NBA after the game, he was relaxed. And apparently, Towns was just as relaxed leading up to the game.

Kenny Smith asked Towns about the intensity of the NBA Finals and what surprised him after playing Game 1 during their postgame interview, and the All-Star center took the opportunity to open up, crediting his late mom for giving him a sense of peace.

KAT:

“I just felt a calm and a peace that had to be come from the woman above (his mom). I felt like a kid. It was just fun out here. It felt like I was a kid getting ready to go play my Saturday AAU games and Sunday AAU games. In a way I felt like I was seeing her in the… pic.twitter.com/iGj4FwxL8C

— Oh No He Didn’t (@ohnohedidnt24) June 4, 2026

“I just felt a calm and a peace that had to be come from the woman above (his mom). I felt really confident about today. I felt good. I felt like a kid,” Towns admitted. “It was just fun out here. This is something that as a kid, you just dream about. You always hope about to be an NBA player, let alone to be in the NBA Finals. All day, it was just a weird feeling, it felt like I was a kid getting ready to go play my Saturday AAU games and Sunday AAU games. In a way I felt like I was seeing her in the stands and it was just fun, it was really fun and it was really comforting.”

Karl-Anthony Towns noted he was expecting to feel a heightened sense of pressure while playing in the first Finals game of his NBA career. But he came away from his first Finals game with the opposite experience.

“It felt like a certain presence was here that was very comforting and very loving,” Towns continued. “And it felt like I could have fun out here during Game 1 of the NBA Finals, which was the weirdest thing, because you would expect to have the pressure at the highest.”

Towns’ mother died from COVID-19 in April 2020, during the height of the pandemic. In the following months and years, the loss of his mother and other family members led Towns to be vocal about the dangers of COVID and the importance of getting vaccinated. And just as he was vulnerable after losing his mother, Towns showed his vulnerability again Wednesday night on Inside the NBA.

The Knicks should hope Karl-Anthony Towns is able to play just as freely for the rest of this championship series against the Spurs. Because despite being tasked with going up against a seemingly impossible force in Victor Wembanyama, Towns played one of his most consistent all-around games as a Knick Tuesday night. And if that’s going to continue, the Knicks might end their 53-year championship drought.

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