Karl-Anthony Towns does have a point. There’s a case to be made his first personal foul in the Knicks’ 126–113 loss to the Golden State Warriors wasn’t a foul at all. But his second personal foul — called less than a minute later — was inexplicable. And in a game where both Jalen Brunson (ankle) and Mitchell Robinson (load management) watched from the sidelines, it sent New York’s All-Star center to the bench with his team already down 14. It’s a familiar story in Towns’ early Knicks tenure. Too familiar. He ranks near the top of the NBA in fouls for a second straight season, and it’s a problem that needs to end quickly, because the whistle isn’t suddenly going to swing in his favor. “You thought they were all fouls?” Towns asked afterward. Not all of them. “That’s what I thought,” he replied. “That’s what I think.” You can live with the first one. With 6:05 remaining in the opening quarter, Towns and Golden State’s Moses Moody chased down a rebound off a Draymond Green miss. Bodies collided. A foul was called. It went in favor of the player who sold the contact best. Fine. The second one is where things went sideways. De’Anthony Melton stripped Towns on a drive to the rim a minute later. Towns accentuated the contact, chicken-winged Melton’s other arm in the process, and tried to sell a call that went against him instead. Two fouls, virtually a minute apart, and the Knicks’ lone offensive anchor was headed for the bench. Fouls like the one on Melton are the ones the star center simply can’t afford. They happen too often with Towns — avoidable, unnecessary plays from a player who already does not receive the benefit of the doubt. “I don’t know. That’s more of something that you have to figure out individually. Me telling him to not foul seems a little redundant,” said Josh Hart. “He has to be smarter in terms of defensively showing his hands, just being more solid. And I think that’s what it is — being solid, more fundamentally sound. And at times, laying off the officials.” Knicks head coach Mike Brown says it’s a team issue, not an isolated incident. He’s right. The Knicks fouled the Sacramento Kings 20 times in the third quarter alone in their loss Wednesday. “All of our guys — not just KAT — all of our guys have to lead with their chest and show their hands,” Brown said after the loss, the Knicks’ seventh in their last nine games. “The officials allow you out on the floor to hand-check now a little bit, so that’s the time. It’s not just KAT. It’s all of us. It wasn’t just one guy — a whole team. So we gotta do a better job in that area, just in general.” Still, the numbers tell a more specific story. Towns has 136 personal fouls this season — 47 more than the next Knick. He ranks fifth in the NBA overall, trailing only Jaren Jackson Jr., Jaden McDaniels, Wendell Carter Jr. and Onyeka Okongwu. Last season, he finished third in personal fouls alongside Jackson Jr., Detroit’s enforcer Jalen Duren, Phoenix’s former bruiser Dillon Brooks and Portland stopper Toumani Camara. Those are the kinds of players you expect to see high in personal fouls — physical defenders who turn games with their impact on the ball. For Towns, too many of his fouls are self-inflicted. He unnecessarily fouled Jimmy Butler late in the third quarter Thursday as Butler made a non-shooting move to pass, then instinctively tucked his arms behind his back as if that might erase the foul that had just occurred. That was foul No. 3. Towns picked up fouls four and five within a 14-second span early in the fourth quarter — first clipping Brandon Podziemski with an elbow while setting a screen on an inbounds play, then bumping Green on a drive while his hands were high in the air. They’re not all fouls. But the ones that are are easily avoidable. And it’s time for Towns to hold himself accountable — because the Knicks are struggling, and they’re no better when their All-Star center is playing timid basketball out of fear of foul trouble. Or worse: watching the game from the bench when his team needs him on the floor. ...read more read less