{"id":7395,"date":"2026-07-16T07:05:12","date_gmt":"2026-07-16T02:05:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=7395"},"modified":"2026-07-16T07:05:12","modified_gmt":"2026-07-16T02:05:12","slug":"karl-anthony-towns-takes-analytical-swipe-at-nba-playoff-foe-during-espys-appearance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=7395","title":{"rendered":"Karl-Anthony Towns takes analytical swipe at NBA playoff foe during ESPYs appearance"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content%2Fuploads%2Fsites%2F2%2F2026%2F07%2Fnewspress-collage-boncq6q6f-1784164687258.jpg?quality%3D90%26strip%3Dall%261784150306\" \/><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>KAT brought out his claws.<\/p>\n<p>Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns, in attendance for the 2026 ESPY Awards at Lincoln Center on Wednesday night, took a swipe at one of the team\u2019s playoff foes as New York looked to take home the Best Team award.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou can pick up all the analytics and statistics you want,\u201d Towns said during a pre-show interview Wednesday with ESPN\u2019s Kevin Negandhi and Christine Williamson.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Karl-Anthony Towns and model Jordyn Woods attend the 2026 <br \/>ESPY Awards at the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center <br \/>on July 15, 2026. <span class=\"credit\">AFP via Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cAnalytically, we should win this one. We should win this one analytically.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Towns\u2019 remark was a shot at Cavaliers head coach Kenny Atkinson, who <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/05\/24\/sports\/kenny-atkinson-bizarrely-claims-cavaliers-are-analytically-beating-knicks\/\">infamously suggested his team had been \u201canalytically\u201d superior<\/a> to the Knicks during the Eastern Conference finals.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module aligncenter wp-block-nypost-editor-primary-tag\">\n<\/aside>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019ve had success against this team before. We\u2019ve had really good moments,\u201d Atkinson said after Game 3. \u201cIn this series, up [20 points in] Game 1. Even Game 2, take that run out from the beginning of the third quarter, and it\u2019s pretty tight.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think analytically, I think we\u2019ve won I said three out of three, I think we\u2019re two out of three in the [expected score] \u2026 we\u2019ve won two out of three. And I know you\u2019re looking confused, but \u2026 if you believe in process and all that, take that layer.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Karl-Anthony Towns swiped at Cavaliers head coach Kenny Atkinson (above), who said his team had been \u201canalytically\u201d superior. <span class=\"credit\">Charles Wenzelberg \/ New York Post<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-x wp-block-embed-x\"\/>\n<p>After coming back from a 22-point deficit in the fourth quarter for a memorable Game 1 win, the Knicks ultimately steamrolled past Cleveland en route to a sweep.<\/p>\n<p>Despite entering the organization\u2019s first NBA Finals in 27 years as the underdog, the Knicks defeated the Spurs in five games to cap off a historic postseason.<\/p>\n<p>After going down to the Hawks 2-1 in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs, the Knicks went on an improbable run, winning 13 straight games and going more than a month and a half between losses.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>The Knicks swept the Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference Finals. <span class=\"credit\">Charles Wenzelberg\/New York Post<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cThe city hasn\u2019t seen this in 53 years, hasn\u2019t even seen the opportunity of being in the Finals for 27 years,\u201d Towns added. \u201cSo when you think about those factors, a team that wasn\u2019t picked to be the favorite, underdog in every series we played, including the last one.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor us, with the playoff run we had, with how dominant it was \u2026 six-point differential in the games that we did lose. 49 days, I believe, without losing a game in the playoffs. That\u2019s my pick for best team.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>New York was among several memorable teams competing for Best Team ESPY, including the Aces (WNBA), Dodgers (MLB), Indiana Hoosiers (NCAA football), Hurricanes (NHL), Texas Longhorns (NCAA softball), Seahawks (NFL) and the United States men\u2019s and women\u2019s hockey teams.<\/p>\n<p>The show proved to be <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/07\/15\/sports\/knicks-star-jalen-brunson-wins-two-espy-awards\/\">another trophy-filled night<\/a> for the Knicks as Jalen Brunson took home Best NBA Player and Best Championship Performance ESPY Awards. <\/p>\n<p>OG Anunoby also won for Best Play.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>KAT brought out his claws. Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns, in attendance for the 2026 ESPY Awards at Lincoln Center on Wednesday night, took a swipe at one of the team\u2019s playoff foes as New York looked to take home the Best Team award. \u201cYou can pick up all the analytics and statistics you want,\u201d Towns&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7396,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/07\/newspress-collage-boncq6q6f-1784164687258.jpg?quality=75&strip=all&1784150306&w=1200","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7395","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-hub"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7395","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7395"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7395\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7396"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7395"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7395"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7395"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}