Homecoming

Karl-Anthony Towns and the Knicks made a statement.

Good morning! Two quick announcements before we get to today’s newsletter…

First up, today’s edition is FREE for all subscribers courtesy of Juan, Please! Thanks so much on behalf of all of our readers (and if anyone wants to pick themselves up a four pack, you can find a nearby retailer here).

Second, if you’re in the New York area tomorrow and want to enjoy some TLT’s while watching the Knicks go for their 18th win of the season, come on down to T-Squared Social for a KFS Watch Party! We’ll be there at least an hour before the 8pm tip off against the New Orleans Pelicans, and there will be 1st, 2nd and 3rd place prizes for our first annual Ugly Jersey contest, so please, wear your absolute worst.

See everyone tomorrow!

Game 27: Knicks 133, Wolves 107

• The Knicks put forth their most dominant two-way performance of the season

• KAT put on a show, scoring 32 points on 12 shots and putting up his second consecutive 20/20 game, the first Knick to do so since Bob McAdoo 46 years ago

• Mikal Bridges had quite possibly his best game as a Knick

• New York flipped the game on its head with a 26-2 first half run

• Everyone contributed to the win in the absence of Josh Hart, who missed the game for personal reasons. Precious Achiuwa started in his place.

Several years ago, my buddy Max got married.

Max was a bit of a cad in his youth and got married later in life, so by the time he did, I was already a father, on top of being happily married myself for several years.

I wasn’t sure what to expect at the wedding, and frankly hadn’t spent much time thinking about it thanks to my own busy life, but when I showed up, it occurred to me very quickly that this night would be a blast from the past. You see, Max was a friend from my bartending days (aka, “Jon’s wildly irresponsible life decision-making days”). As such, more than a few faces I hadn’t seen in years were in attendance, including an ex-girlfriend who I once shared multiple apartments with but whom I hadn’t seen in close to a decade.

This was not the first time I’d been placed in such a situation - I’d been quite the trollop myself in my late teens and early 20’s - but something was different now. In the past, if I saw an ex, I’d be dead set on making the entire evening about them, and in doing so, would ruin whatever new thing I had going on. Not now though.

Now?

I was happy.

More than that, I was secure. Secure in my own skin. Secure in my place in the world. And most of all, secure in my relationship. There was no part of me that wanted to impress my ex, or imprint on her what she was now missing, or that felt the need to show off (as if a middle-aged man of my aptitude could even do such a thing).

The result was one of the more fun nights my wife I had had in a while. We drank, we danced, and we enjoyed the hell out of an evening without children. My wife claims she saw my ex eying us from time to time, but I was none the wiser. It truly did not matter. What I had now rendered whatever I had then completely irrelevant.

Sometimes in life, you reach a new plane of existence where you can’t see the levels that are now beneath you. It is only onwards and upwards from here.

For Karl-Anthony Towns, to say the sky is the limit would be something of an understatement.

There are so many things about the Knicks’ performance last night that are worth fawning over.

The defense was as locked in as we have seen it all season.

They withstood a blistering start from the Wolves and didn’t let it deter their focus on either end of the court.

Mikal Bridges looked the part of the third best player on a title team and then some.

They had as good a passing game as they’ve had all year, with 39 assists on 50 made field goals.

They never let their foot off the gas.

And oh yeah…they put up 133 points on the road against a team that had the best defense in the NBA by a country mile since Thanksgiving.

In big picture terms, all of the above is probably more relevant than anything KAT did.

That, in an of itself, is a testament to Towns, whose “first player ever…” stat line isn’t even all that impressive to anyone who has been paying attention since he got drafted. For going on a decade now, Karl has made the impossible seem routine. He had a 30 & 20 game last night that could only be described as effortless. While not the best center in the league or even the most talented, there is no big man who can hijack a game without so much as a sign of forced entry. He’s the ultimate, ahem…KAT burglar, to borrow an analogy from an earlier newsletter.

But this much we knew.

What we weren’t sure of was how he would react in this specific situation - returning to Minnesota for the first time, with all the fanfare that came with it, and how it might impact his performance on the court he used to call his own.

We know Towns is an emotional man. If this night got the better of him, I’m not sure anyone would have blamed him.

But like a guy who barely noticed his ex because he had found his soulmate, Karl-Anthony Towns went out and had himself the time of his life.

Can one night render a definitive verdict on a trade that shook the cores of two different franchises? Of course not. We likely won’t know the “winner” and “loser” of this deal for years to come, if such designations are even possible. The tentacles of the transaction were and are so far reaching that we’ll need multiple seasons to fully judge who made out better or worse.

And yet…

For one night, there was no dispute about which of the two teams felt closer to contention after their big swing.

Like I said, I didn’t notice whether or not my ex was looking in my direction that night, but my guess is that she wasn’t thrilled I was having such a good time in her presence, and would have loved to make her mark.

Here’s hoping she finds happiness eventually.

💫 Stars of the Game 💫

⭐️ Deuce McBride: With a tip of the cap to OG Anunoby, who was massive in slowing down Julius Randle after his blistering start.

But this has to go to Deuce, who turned the game around when he replaced Precious Achiuwa midway through the first quarter. New York was down by four points when McBride came in and gave the Knicks a fifth floor-spacer. By the time Achiuwa re-entered, New York led by 27.

Deuce finished with 16 points, eight assists and five rebounds.

⭐️ ⭐️ Mikal Bridges: After 29 points on 12-of-18 shooting to go with six boards, six dimes and exceptional defense, can we officially say that Bridges has found his stride? Over the last eight games, the Knicks have outscored opponents by 129 points in the 310 minutes Bridges has played. That’s first in the league by a decent margin, just ahead of…

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ Karl-Anthony Towns: I mean, really…am I not going to give it to the guy who had a 32, 20 & 6 stat line? Bridges was better in a vacuum, but this game wasn’t played in a vacuum. What Towns did in his return to Minnesota will not soon be forgotten by anyone who watched it.

Special person, special player.

Final Thought

I'm comin' home, I'm comin' home
Tell the world I'm comin' home
Let the rain wash away
All the pain of yesterday
I know my kingdom awaits
And they've forgiven my mistakes
I'm comin' home, I'm comin' home
Tell the world I'm comin'…

🏀

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”