When the New York Knicks acquired Karl-Anthony Towns for Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo this past offseason, the initial reaction around the league was overwhelmingly positive. 

Many expected the Knicks to emerge as the primary opposition to the reigning NBA champion Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference with the addition of Towns. Some initial growing pains gave New York some trouble at the beginning of the season, though they seem to have begun to figure things out over the second half of November.

The Knicks have won seven of their last ten games to push them up to fourth place in the East. The strong play of the four-time NBA All-Star Towns has been a key reason for their success.

Towns has flourished in his full-time return to the center position after sliding over to power forward during the past two seasons with the Timberwolves to accommodate Rudy Gobert. The versatility of the four other players in New York’s starting line-up–Jalen Brunson, Mikal Bridges, OG Anunoby, and Josh Hart–allows Towns to maximize his wide range of offensive talents as they provide him with the leeway to pick his preferred spots depending on the match-up. 

This has reflected in his per-game numbers as he is averaging 25.2 points on 53.3% shooting from the field, including a blistering 45.5% from three-point range, along with 13 rebounds—numbers that are either on pace to set career highs or close to matching his best marks.

With Towns firing on all cylinders, the Knicks have improved from seventh in offensive rating last season to first this year. The luxury of having a go-to guy with the caliber of Towns has led to career-best assist numbers from Brunson (7.9) and Hart (5.7) while New York as a whole have a league-leading assist-to-turnover ratio of 2.2. 

Curiously, the biggest weakness of the Knicks this season has been on the defensive end. They are currently just 24th in the NBA in terms of defensive rating which is highly unexpected for a team coached by the defense-first Tom Thibodeau. Towns has never been known as a strong defensive presence, though he has shown in recent years that he can be a capable team defender. 

New York does have a pair of elite defensive wings in Bridges and Anunoby, so it should only be a matter of time before Thibodeau adjusts and has this team playing up to his standards on defense.

Once these Knicks develop more chemistry, it’s not far-fetched to imagine them putting together a season-defining winning streak that catapults them up the standings. This New York squad fancies themselves as a legitimate championship contender, and for as long as they can stay healthy—a big “if,” given the heavy minutes that Tom Thibodeau demands of his rotation—there is no reason to believe otherwise.