Is Karl-Anthony Towns Playing in Game 5? (Injury Update, Betting Impact for Pacers vs. Knicks)

New York Knicks star center Karl-Anthony Towns has been dealing with a knee issue in the Eastern Conference Finals against the Indiana Pacers.

Towns was seen flexing his knee during the Knicks' Game 3 win, and he appeared to aggravate it again in Game 4 on a play late in the fourth quarter.

Towns was pushed into Pacers forward Aaron Nesmith while defending the basket, and he went down hard after the two appeared to bang knees.

🚑 INJURY REPORT 🚑

Karl-Anthony Towns looks to reaggravate the same left knee he had surgery on in 2024 to repair a torn meniscus 🤕🫣 pic.twitter.com/VAiyev8VhJ
— TheSportsStory (@Thesports_story) May 28, 2025

Towns remained in the game for the Knicks, but he was visibly hobbled in the closing minutes getting up and down the floor.

The Knicks have listed Towns as questionable on their injury report for Game 5 at Madison Square Garden.

Karl-Anthony Towns (knee) listed questionable for Thursday.
— Underdog NBA (@UnderdogNBA) May 28, 2025

After the Knicks' loss in Game 4, Towns did not comment on his knee injury, saying he's only "thinking about the loss."

Karl-Anthony Towns was asked about his knee injury:

"I'm only thinking about the loss, I'm not thinking about that right now." pic.twitter.com/dOTf0eWuvs
— Knicks Videos (@sny_knicks) May 28, 2025

The Knicks big man has been a vital part of the team's run to the Eastern Conference Finals, earning an All-NBA nod for his play during the regular season. In the playoffs, Towns is averaging 21.3 points and 11.4 rebounds per game. He had 20 points in the fourth quarter of Game 3 to help the Knicks secure their lone win of this series with Indiana.

Even with Towns banged up -- and the Knicks trailing this series 3-1 -- New York is favored at home in Game 5. DraftKings Sportsbook has the Knicks set as five-point favorites at home even though they dropped the first two games of this series, including Game 1 where they led by nine points in the final minute.

The Knicks are aiming to become just the 14th teams in NBA history to erase a 3-1 deficit in a best-of-seven series. However, oddsmakers aren't expecting that to happen, setting the Pacers as -600 favorites to advance to the NBA Finals.

Odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.

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