Knicks got Karl-Anthony Towns to beat Celtics in playoffs (he’s the problem)

Before the start of the season, the New York Knicks traded for Karl-Anthony Towns, presumably in an attempt to bolster their chances at making a championship push and battle the Boston Celtics atop the Eastern Conference. Fast forward to now, with the two teams set to square off in the second round of the playoffs, and Towns' awful defense is the primary reason they can't beat Boston.

Adding Mikal Bridges and OG Anunoby should have given the Knicks the perfect ammo to defend Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. But having Towns and Jalen Brunson on the floor for most of the games means Tatum and Brown will almost always have a favorable matchup to attack. And that's without even mentioning the Kristaps Porzingis factor.

Towns, the very guy the Knicks added to bolster their chances in the East, is the very reason they may fail.

Jayson Tatum exposes Karl-Anthony Towns on defense

There are two main ways the Celtics pick Towns apart on defense. The first is with Tatum.

Whoever Towns is guarding - usually Porzingis, Al Horford, or Luke Kornet - comes to set a screen for Tatum. They screen off the player defending Tatum, leaving the Celtics star in one of a few situations, all of which are an advantage for him.

The first scenario is that Towns is left in a one-on-one situation against Tatum. The Boston star absolutely loves to attack bigs one-on-one, as he's capable of driving right past them for an open dunk.

The second scenario is that Towns plays a drop defense, leaving Tatum a ton of space to step into an open pull-up three. He's been great in these spots this year.

The third is that the Knicks defender who is on Tatum - usually OG Anunoby or Mikal Bridges - presses up to take the drive away, almost anticipating the screen. But from there, Tatum is fully capable of rejecting the screen. New York's perimeter defenders try to make up for Town's defensive deficiencies, but Tatum ends up in the situation he wants anyways.

How Kristaps Porzingis makes Karl-Anthony Towns useless

Then, there's the Porzingis factor.

Towns is almost always going to play drop defense. If he steps up too far, Tatum (or whoever the ball-handler is) will drive right past him. This is where Porzingis comes into play.

Porzingis is fully capable of spacing the floor, even if it means launching threes from five feet behind the arc. In Boston's early-April win over the Knicks at MSG, Porzingis poured in eight threes.

No matter the situation, if Towns is on the floor, the Celtics will have a perfect target on defense. And that doesn't bode well for New York.