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NEW YORK, NEW YORK – JANUARY 19: Jalen Brunson #11 and Karl-Anthony Towns #32 of the New York Knicks wear Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. T-shirts in honor of him and his National Holiday before their game against the Dallas Mavericks at Madison Square Garden on January 19, 2026 in New York City.
The New York Knicks, by most standards, are considered in contention to win the NBA championship this season. However, there have been a few major issues for the team prevailing throughout the year, and most recently, it’s been the combination of Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns creating some concerns.
The duo was, and is, supposed to be the bright spot of the team. The two stars are meant to be the engine of the Knicks’ offense and their most important players when it comes to winning games and seeing success in the playoffs.
While that still might be the case, based on New York’s last few games, the duo has not been living up to expectations. Brunson has been steady and solid all season, but as for Towns, questions have followed him all season, and if the two still can’t find a groove in the most important part of the season, the latter could be on his way out this summer.
Knicks Get Concerning Stat On Jalen Brunson And Karl-Anthony Towns
GettyKarl-Anthony Towns #32 and Jalen Brunson #11 of the New York Knicks talk during a free throw by a teammate in the second half against the Milwaukee Bucks at Madison Square Garden on November 08, 2024 in New York City.
The Knicks have lost three games in a row. While the star duo of Brunson and Towns weren’t horrendous in the last three losses, both left a lot on the table as New York fell to the Charlotte Hornets, Oklahoma City Thunder, and Houston Rockets.
But while their individual stats can be argued about, one thing that can’t be skewed is how the Knicks played when the two were on the court together.
In a recent statistic shared by team insider Stefan Bondy of the New York Post, the Brunson-Towns duo has had one of the worst net ratings over the past three games.
The KAT-Brunson 2-man lineup played 62 minutes together in the last three games. It had a -38.7 net rating. It was Brunson’s worst rated pairing during the losing streak. KAT was only worse with Josh Hart. KAT-JB is supposed to be NYK’s super weapon. They’re still taking turns.
“The KAT-Brunson 2-man lineup played 62 minutes together in the last three games,” he wrote in a post on X. “It had a -38.7 net rating. It was Brunson’s worst rated pairing during the losing streak. KAT was only worse with Josh Hart. KAT-JB is supposed to be NYK’s super weapon. They’re still taking turns.”
New York lost by a combined 39 points over the past three games. Both Brunson and Towns played a little above their minutes average over the course of the season, but there’s no clear reason as to why the team has been struggling so immensely when both are on the court.
As Bondy mentioned, it could be because they are ‘taking turns’ and aren’t playing the ‘two-man game,’ but the duo has never been known to have a strong pick-and-roll partnership in their nearly two seasons playing together.
Questions about Towns’ fit on the team remain, and in the most important stretch of the season before the playoffs, head coach Mike Brown will need to address the Brunson-Towns net rating, because those two will be the most crucial players in the Knicks making another deep postseason run.
Knicks Injury Report, Jalen Brunson Injury Update
TARRYTOWN, NEW YORK – SEPTEMBER 23: Jalen Brunson #11 of the New York Knicks speaks to the media at Knicks Training Facility on September 23, 2025 in Tarrytown, New York.
Finding a way to make the Brunson-Towns pairing work is a major issue the Knicks will need to address. However, they can’t do that if the point guard isn’t playing, and that could be the case in New York’s next game against the Memphis Grizzlies.
Brunson is currently listed as questionable on the team’s injury report with right ankle soreness for Wednesday night. The full extent of the injury is not yet known, but it comes as the Knicks will play their third game in four days, so he could be sitting out due to rest.
Additionally, New York has ruled out Miles McBride and Mitchell Robinson for Wednesday against the Grizzlies.
McBride returned for one game after being out for nearly two months with a sports hernia, but appeared to re-aggravate the injury in his first game back.
Despite initial concerns, the Knicks are optimistic he won’t miss much time, according to Jared Schwartz of the New York Post.
Robinson is out due to left ankle management, nothing too major considering he’s sat multiple times recently to manage the injury.
The Knicks are currently 48-28 and third in the Eastern Conference standings. Making the conference finals for the second year in a row remains a tall task, especially if they can’t figure out the Brunson-Towns combo or have all their key players healthy.
Eli Gregorski is a sports journalist covering the NBA for Heavy Sports. He has years of sports writing experience covering the NBA, NFL, college football and basketball, international soccer, and Formula One. He graduated from the University of Colorado Boulder, where he was the assistant sports editor for the award-winning CU Independent student publication. More about Eli Gregorski
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