With the New York Knicks down 2-0 in the 2025 Eastern Conference Finals against the Indiana Pacers, they must head into Game 3 with a sense of desperation as if their series is on the line. After all, no team in NBA history has ever come back from down 3-0 in a playoff series. But in the first half of Game 3, Karl-Anthony Towns, the 2025 NBA All-NBA Third Team selection, was stinking up the joint.

Towns scored just four points in the first half and found himself in early foul trouble; he was overall a negative presence on the court for the Knicks through the first 24 minutes of game time. And during the halftime interval, Shaquille O'Neal and Charles Barkley, all the way from TNT's Inside the NBA booth, tore into the Knicks star for his poor play.

“You got to still be aggressive. We need desperation out of you. Things like this [missed layup] should never happen. 6'11” right here right at the basket, you got to make this. You got to play with force,” O'Neal said.

Meanwhile, Barkley was very perplexed as to why Towns would launch a three-pointer from near the logo early on in the shot clock when he's been out of rhythm all game.

“What the hell is this?” Barkley asked with ferocity.

“This shot right here, we'd be fighting in the locker room right now. Down 0-2 and you're taking 35-footers?” O'Neal seconded Barkley's befuddlement.

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These two, however, should be very proud of what Towns did in response to his poor second half. He was the main catalyst behind the Knicks' fourth-quarter comeback en route to a 106-100 Game 3 win, and this could be the moment they look back on as the one that saved their season from its demise.

Karl-Anthony Towns saves the Knicks from the brink

New York Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns (32) reacts during the first quarter of game six in the second round of the 2025 NBA Playoffs against the Boston Celtics at Madison Square Garden.
Brad Penner-Imagn Images

A lot has been written about Karl-Anthony Towns' struggles in the series. He hasn't been the best defensively, botching multiple coverages, and there are times where he's gone invisible on offense. But in Game 3, Towns took it upon himself to save the Knicks and lead them to a comeback from 20-point down earlier in the first half.

Towns scored 20 points in the fourth quarter and was aggressive in getting to the basket. Regardless of the Pacers defender that was on him, Towns powered through them off the dribble. For all the flak he's been catching thus far in the series against the Pacers, he deserves all the credit in the world as well for saving the Knicks' season.