Karl-Anthony Towns is one of the biggest and most important players for the New York Knicks, so fans were shocked when they saw him on the bench so much during the fourth quarter of Friday night’s Game 2 against the Indiana Pacers.

After the game, head coach Tom Thibodeau spoke with The Athletic about his choice to sit Towns for a seven-minute stretch during the fourth, saying that his team was simply searching for the lineup that worked best.

“Just, we got in a hole, and then the group that was in there gave us a chance,” Thibodeau said when asked to explain his decision to sit Towns for much of the fourth quarter. “So we were just riding (that lineup). We’re searching for a win.”

The Knicks have a very exciting starting five, but there are problems with it, and they are consistently outscored.

Jalen Brunson, Mikal Bridges, Josh Hart, OG Anunoby, and Towns all have great talent, but teams seem to get an advantage on them often.

On Friday, Thibodeau decided to sit Towns and gave Mitchell Robinson more minutes as the team attempted to climb back into the game.

The team’s tough loss proves that the issues aren’t all because of Towns, and perhaps a change to the starting lineup is needed.

The Knicks are running out of time, so Thibodeau and his staff will need to figure out any adjustments they want to try quickly.

Game 3 is essentially make or break because it’ll be nearly impossible for the Knicks to climb out of a 3-0 hole.

Thibodeau thought less Towns would help the team in the fourth quarter, but it didn’t work out that way.

What approach will he take in Game 3?

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