Keagan Smith gives an injury update for Karl-Anthony Towns, who is listed questionable for Wednesday’s season opener against the Cavaliers.
The New York Knicks begin their 2025-26 season on Wednesday, but one of the team’s stars may wind up playing through an injury to start the campaign. Star center Karl-Anthony Towns is questionable for Wednesday’s season opener against the Cleveland Cavaliers due to a quadriceps issue.
With limited action in the preseason and the regular season yet to begin, the injury designation may not be anything serious. Rather, it could be more of a housekeeping measure if the 29-year-old big man is dealing with some kind of minor issue. One can probably expect him to take the court on Wednesday night, but his status will remain one to keep an eye on for prop bet and DFS lineup purposes.
Towns appeared revitalized as a member of the Knicks last year alongside star guard Jalen Brunson. In his first season in blue and orange, the sharpshooting center averaged 24.4 PPG while shooting 52.6% from the field and 42.0% from three-point range. Towns also pulled down a career-best 12.8 rebounds per contest while dishing out 3.1 assists on average.
He remains a massive part of the Knicks’ game plan on offense and a clear-cut 1B option behind Brunson’s 1A. If Towns misses this contest, the New York frontcourt depth may struggle to deal with a big Cavaliers lineup that includes Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen. With Mitchell Robinson (load management) and Josh Hart (back) already ruled out, the frontcourt looks thin as Guerschon Yabusele likely starts at center with Ariel Hukporti behind him.
The Knicks finished the previous regular season with a 51-31 record and made it to the Eastern Conference Finals before falling to the Indiana Pacers. With several roster acquisitions for the bench over the offseason as well as a new head coach in Mike Brown, New York now looks to take advantage of a wide-open Eastern Conference and compete for another deep playoff run.