BOSTON — Karl-Anthony Towns has said it before: As long as the Knicks are winning, he doesn’t care about shot attempts. Doesn’t care about touches. Wins are all that matter — and for the greater goal, he’s willing to sacrifice.

But the Knicks just lost one of their biggest games of the season.

And in the wake of Wednesday’s blowout loss to the Celtics in Game 5, shot profile — and frequency — are back on the table.

Towns considers himself — and is widely recognized as — the best shooting center in NBA history. His regular-season numbers back it up: 42.7% from deep on 4.7 attempts per game, marking his sixth season shooting over 40% from beyond the arc. It’s a career mark that surpasses even Nikola Jokic’s best.

But the shot hasn’t been there in Round 2.

Towns has attempted just 13 threes in five games against the Celtics. He’s made only two. That’s a 15.4% clip — a stark contrast from Round 1, when he made 12-of-25 (48%) from deep against Detroit.

Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau said it’s more about Boston’s defensive design than a lack of intent.

“They’re staying with him,” Thibodeau said after the 25-point loss at TD Garden. “They’re playing small, so they’re up on him. And he’s in foul trouble.”

Indeed, the Celtics have thrown All-NBA defender Jrue Holiday — listed at 6-4 — on the 7-foot Towns. The move has disrupted rhythm and spacing. Towns said he’s sticking to the game plan.

“I haven’t really been out there [at the three-point line] really. Haven’t had the chance to shoot,” he said postgame. “We’ve just been trying to do our game plan, and I’m just trying to execute at the highest level. So I’m trying to do most of my damage inside and do whatever my team asks of me.”

Still, the optics are hard to ignore.

This is a five-time All-Star. A two-time All-NBA player. The 2022 NBA Three-Point Contest Champion. And in a game where the Knicks badly needed his scoring, Towns touched the ball just 25 times in the front court — the lowest among all five starters.

The Knicks traded for that résumé — and that skillset — when they dealt Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo to Minnesota. Randle, now revitalized with the Timberwolves, is averaging 23.9 points and six assists on 51% shooting in the playoffs. It was Randle, not Anthony Edwards, who buried the Golden State Warriors with 29- and 31-point back-to-back performances to clinch another Western Conference Finals trip.

Meanwhile, the Knicks are still trying to figure out how to fully unlock what might be the most talented basketball player in New York, a seven-foot unicorn who is being asked to play a traditional center’s offensive role.

“I think we can run actions that get him open more,” said Josh Hart. “We’re running a lot of ball-screen actions. And they’re in a drop [coverage], but we can figure out ways to get him going — whether it’s transition or flares or quick screens. Ball screens that are wide.

“We have to figure out ways to help him. Obviously he’s a hell of a shooter. But if he was a guard, we’d be in a different situation, because he’d have the ball in his hands and be able to create [for himself]. We’ve got to help him get in positions for that.”

Team captain Jalen Brunson agreed, saying it’s on him to get Towns more involved — and to read the matchups more sharply in-game.

“I need to trust everyone out there and knowing who to attack and when to set the table,” Brunson said. “I think the biggest part of that is knowing how they are defending. If they are going to put a small guy on him, and then they put a bigger guy on him — him being aggressive gives us a big advantage.”

The Knicks need Towns to be aggressive. But they also need to give him the chance.

Because buried underneath all the playoff grit and defensive toughness is a generational offensive weapon — one who can shift a game, a series, even a season with the flick of a wrist.

The Knicks traded for firepower. Now, it’s time to pull the trigger. Because if they can’t figure out how to maximize Towns, it won’t just be a missed opportunity.

It could be the reason the defending champs come back to steal this series.