Karl-Anthony Towns and the New York Knicks are on the verge of advancing to the second round of the 2025 NBA Playoffs.

They entered Tuesday night's game at Madison Square Garden in New York with a 3-1 series lead in the first round against the visiting Detroit Pistons, and they let everyone know they meant nothing but business early in the contest, courtesy of a monster two-handed dunk over Cade Cunningham.

Towns, who has been an incredible offensive weapon for the Knicks, pulled off a well-executed give-and-go play with New York do-it-all guard Josh Hart before finishing with the thunderous throwdown.

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That sequence also gave a glimpse of the immense breadth of the former Kentucky Wildcats star big man's offensive capabilities. After getting a pass outside of the 3-point line, Towns tried to attack off the dribble, even pulling back the ball as though he was going to pull up for a shot from behind the arc. Pistons center Jalen Duren clearly respected Towns' touch from deep, as he stayed in front of the New York star only for Towns to pass the ball to Hart before cutting to the rim and getting the leather back.

Those were not quite the type of actions on offense the Knicks could do in the 2023-24 campaign when they still did not have Towns in the fold. New York acquired Towns via a blockbuster trade with the Minnesota Timberwolves last October that also involved the likes of Julius Randle, Donte DiVincenzo.

Together with Brunson, Towns has formed a 1-2 Knicks punch that the Pistons have struggled to contain and slow down in the first round. Through four games in the series, Brunson has averaged 33.3 points and 8.8 assists, while Towns put up 22.8 points on an impressive 53.0 field goal percentage and 50 percent shooting from behind the arc and grabbed 8.5 rebounds per outing.

Should Town and the Knicks get the job done in the first round by sending Detroit home for an early vacation, they will play the winner of the other matchup in the Eastern Conference bracket of the playoffs between the reigning NBA champions Boston Celtics and the Orlando Magic.