Knicks Drop Worrying Karl-Anthony Towns Injury News

The New York Knicks already had Josh Hart on the injury report, but a new name has joined him ahead of their matchup with the Indiana Pacers.

Mar 8, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; New York Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns (32) reacts against the Los Angeles Lakers in the second half at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Josh Hart has been a familiar name on the questionable list over the past several games, but now there is a new name alongside him heading into the New York Knicks' matchup against the Indiana Pacers, and it is none other than Karl-Anthony Towns.

According to the NBA injury report, Towns is listed as questionable with bilateral knee soreness. He joins Hart, who is also questionable with left knee soreness ahead of the same game.

The concern around Towns traces back to the Clippers game on March 10, when he was seen visibly favoring his right knee. After coming up short on a pair of drives, he was limping and grabbing at his knee, then hobbled off slowly for a timeout. Towns did return for the second half and finished the game, which was a relief at the time.

He played through it against the Utah Jazz and delivered anyway. In 30 minutes, Towns shot 8-of-13 from the field and 3-of-6 from deep for 21 points, adding seven assists and seven rebounds as the Knicks won 134-117. Now showing soreness on both knees, though, it is clear the team is being careful with him.

Towns is averaging 20.0 points and 11.9 rebounds per game this season on 49.3% shooting from the field and 37% from three. He has missed just four games all season and has been the anchor of everything New York does.

What It Means for the Knicks vs Pacers

Mar 9, 2026; Inglewood, California, USA; Los Angeles Clippers guard Darius Garland (10) moves to the basket against New York Knicks guard Mikal Bridges (25) and center Karl-Anthony Towns (32) during the second half at Intuit Dome. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images | Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

The Pacers are 15-50 and well out of playoff contention, so this is a game the Knicks are expected to win. But Indiana always gets up for New York. Earlier this season, the Pacers won a meeting in overtime 137-134, even with Jalen Brunson dropping 40 points. These games are rarely clean.

The bigger question heading in is how much Towns can give. If he is limited or sits out, the Knicks will need others to step up inside.

OG Anunoby has been in excellent form lately, scoring at least 22 points in three of his last four games, and Brunson has been locked in all month, averaging 22.1 points and 10.0 assists per game since March began. The pieces are there, but Towns changes everything.

New York is 42-25 and sitting third in the Eastern Conference, so there is some wiggle room to manage his workload down the stretch. But no one wants their best big man nursing a knee concern this close to the playoffs. Getting him to April healthy matters far more than the result of any individual game right now.

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