New York Knicks star Karl-Anthony Towns limped to the locker room in the fourth quarter of Sunday's matinee against the Boston Celtics. Towns appeared to suffer a knee injury on a missed dunk attempt.

Here's the play:

Karl-Anthony Towns was trying to lead a big Knicks comeback. New York trailed by as many as 27 points in the third quarter in Boston, only to trim the deficit to four points early in the fourth quarter on a KAT triple. But he left the game with 8:28 remaining, and the Celtics promptly pulled away again.

Related New York Knicks NewsArticle continues below
New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson (11) fouls out of the game in the second half during game five of the second round for the 2025 NBA Playoffs against the Boston Celtics at TD Garden.
NBA L2M report confirms two missed fouls against Knicks in ECF Game 1 vs. Pacers
New York Knicks small forward Carmelo Anthony (7) dribbles the ball against Utah Jazz power forward Derrick Favors (15) during the third quarter at Madison Square Garden. Utah won 114-109.
Carmelo Anthony reveals he was almost traded to Jazz instead of Knicks

For some reason, Towns returned to the game with the Knicks down 18 points with just over four minutes to play. The Knicks star was obviously still hobbled, but Tom Thibodeau couldn't help himself and played the big man for the rest of the game because he said he was good to go, per Kristian Winfield of the New York Daily News. There was zero threat of a comeback attempt as Boston earned a 118-105 win to give New York an 0-7 record against the top three teams (Cleveland Cavaliers, Oklahoma City Thunder, Boston Celtics) in the NBA this season.

Towns struggled to start this game as the Celtics pulled out to a 19-point lead after the first quarter despite both OG Anunoby and Josh Hart playing. It was a 21-point lead at halftime and a 27-point margin early in the third quarter before Towns and Jalen Brunson came alive to make things interesting.

But it was all for naught, and the Knicks have to hope this injury is truly nothing serious right as they're about to get Mitchell Robinson back. There was no reason to bring Karl-Anthony Towns back in with the game out of hand, but Thibs still hasn't learned from some of his past mistakes with minutes. The center finished with 24 points and 18 rebounds in 41 minutes, and he said afterward “we'll see how the next couple days go” when asked about the injury.

KAT and New York dropped to 37-20 with this latest blowout loss, which came after a 37-point defeat against Cleveland. The Knicks are comfortably the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference, but they're a clear tier below the Celtics and Cavaliers.