Is Karl-Anthony Towns Already Causing Problems for Knicks?

The New York Knicks suffered their first loss of the season, falling 115-107 to the Miami Heat. Karl-Anthony Towns and the bench both struggled badly.

Towns finished with 15 points and 18 rebounds, but his offensive game looked completely off. He shot just 2-for-8 from three-point range and committed frustration fouls that hurt the team at critical moments.

Jonathan Macri of Knicks Film School was blunt about what he saw. He questioned whether Towns is "comfortable in this offense" after watching him struggle throughout the game. Macri noted that Towns is "the greatest shooting big man of all time," yet he took eight threes and still looked out of sync.

The biggest red flag was Towns picking up silly fouls when frustrated. This forced him to the bench in the third quarter when the Knicks desperately needed scoring, especially with Jalen Brunson resting. Without Towns on the floor, the offense completely stalled and Miami pulled away.

Can Karl-Anthony Towns Find His Comfort Zone in New York?

The Knicks bench was even worse than Towns. The reserves scored just 21 points compared to Miami's 44 bench points. They shot a horrible 1-for-18 from three-point range and went 6-for-32 overall from the field.

Summer additions Gershon Yabusele and Jordan Clarkson failed to deliver. Clarkson went 2-for-11, though Macri said he's not worried since "he's a shooter" and some nights the shots just don't fall. Yabusele is the bigger concern after managing just 2 points on 1-for-6 shooting.

Macri didn't mince words about Yabusele's conditioning issues. He said Yabusele "looks like a guy out there who is in need of another few months to get into game shape" and noted he "can't stay in front of anybody on the defensive end and he can't make a shot either". With Mitchell Robinson still injured, the Knicks need Yabusele to step up quickly.

.@JCMacriNBA joins @ChelseaSherrod to discuss what he saw from Karl-Anthony Towns in the Knicks' loss to the Heat and the struggles of the Knicks' bench in Miami:

➡️ @Honda pic.twitter.com/XPdCwu88sy
— Knicks Videos (@sny_knicks) October 27, 2025

It's only three games into the season, but the warning signs are real. Towns needs to find his comfort level in this offense and stay composed when things aren't going his way. The bench shooting must improve dramatically or the Knicks will struggle against quality opponents.

If these problems persist, New York could waste what looked like a promising start to their season.

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