Most people see the Knicks as a team with a primary superstar in Jalen Brunson, an ancillary star in Karl-Anthony Towns, and elite role players filling out the rest of the lineup. That was similar to the playbook employed by the Celtics in 2024: Jayson Tatum was the superstar, Jaylen Brown the supporting star, and guys like Jrue Holiday, Al Horford, Derrick White, and Kristaps Porzingis playing huge roles.
And just like in the 2024 Finals, the secondary star is building quite a case for Finals MVP. Tatum led the Celtics in points, rebounds, and assists, but JB hit some huge shots and had some huge moments on the defensive end, notably slowing down the Mavericks’ best player, Luka Doncic.
Fast forward to 2026, and the Knicks are faring similarly, as they went into San Antonio and stole both games, taking a commanding 2-0 lead over the Spurs as the series shifts to New York. Brunson has been the leading scorer for the Knicks, but it’s arguably KAT who has been the most valuable player in the series.
He's dominating the glass with 25 rebounds through two games, shooting with much better efficiency than Brunson, at 15/27 from the floor and 3/7 on threes to Brunson's 19/56 and 4/17, and doing an admirable job against Victor Wembanyama. And although the series is far from over, we’re already seeing a groundswell for Towns to take home the Finals MVP trophy, just like Brown did two years ago.
KAT would be a worthy Finals MVP
And much like was the case with JB, it would be a respectable honor for KAT. We’ve seen similar things play out with guys like Andre Iguodala and Kawhi Leonard winning the award for being elite role players who did a good job of defending LeBron James, and Brown took it to another level with his excellent two-way play, with the big plays guarding Luka being some of the defining moments of the series.
It feels like that’s what Towns is doing for New York, as he has largely won the battle with Wemby through two games, and that’s the biggest reason for their success.
The one way this feels different is that Brunson has still been the offensive engine in crunch time for the Knicks, and despite poor efficiency and a 1:1 assist/turnover ratio, he has hit big shots down the stretch to close out both games. There’s still a lot more basketball to be played, and anything could happen in these last few games, but if things keep playing out this way, the narrative is only going to grow, and Karl-Anthony Towns will probably win Finals MVP over his All-NBA teammate.
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