Karl-Anthony Towns' Benching vs. Pacers Discussed by Knicks HC, 'Searching For A Win'

New York Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau isn't known for relying on his bench in crucial moments, but he broke from the norm by benching Karl-Anthony Towns for more than six minutes in the fourth quarter of Friday's 114-109 loss to the Indiana Pacers.

Speaking to reporters after the Game 2 loss, Thibodeau explained he was "searching for a win" and liked what the group he had on the floor was doing as the rationale for keeping Towns on the bench.

"Just, we got in a hole, and then the group that was in there gave us a chance," Thibodeau said. "So we were just riding (that lineup). We’re searching for a win."

Towns was removed from the game with nine minutes remaining in the fourth quarter when the Knicks were trailing 94-85. He also sat out more than four minutes in the third quarter before checking back in with 11 seconds remaining.

There wasn't any noticeable change in the Knicks' performance on either end of the court in the fourth quarter when Towns was out. They were still down by nine when he came back in with 2:25 left to play.

Towns' plus-minus was a game-worst minus-20 in 27 minutes. No other Knicks player had worse plus-minus than minus-10 (Josh Hart).

Indiana's fast-paced style is virtually designed to target a player like Towns because he's not fleet of foot, nor does he do much to prevent opponents from attacking the rim.

Defense was a huge concern for Towns early in the season. He was allowing opponents to shoot 91.4 percent in the restricted area on 35 attempts through the first nine games of the regular season.

Things eventually got better for Towns and the Knicks as he acclimated to his new team, but the Pacers are making him revert back to those early-season issues.

Thibodeau hasn't confirmed he will make any changes to the starting five for Game 3, but he didn't rule it out as the Knicks look for any way to get back into the series.

Mitchell Robinson played a season-high 29 minutes off the bench in Game 2, scoring six points and grabbing nine rebounds (four offensive). His plus-minus was plus-six, tied with Miles McBride for best on the Knicks.

The Knicks and Pacers will play Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Sunday at 8 p.m. ET.