KAT Hypes 'One of a Kind' Wemby After His Defensive Box-Score Stats Trend from Knicks' Win vs. Spurs

Karl-Anthony Towns isn't renowned for his defensive ability, but he stepped up huge against Victor Wembanyama to help the New York Knicks in a 105-95 victory over the San Antonio Spurs in Game 1 of the NBA Finals.

Speaking to reporters after Wednesday's win (starts at 24:20 mark), Towns praised Wembanyama as a "one-of-a-kind" player and that his goal was about making life as difficult as possible for the Spurs superstar.

"Just try to make it difficult," Towns said of defending Wembanyama. "He's an amazing player, one-of-a-kind player in this NBA, that the league has ever seen, and you just try to make it as difficult as possible."

Wembanyama finished with 26 points on just 6-of-21 shooting, including a 2-of-12 mark with Towns as the primary defender. He also committed four of his six turnovers when matched up with the Knicks center.

Knicks-Spurs Highlights

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The six turnovers for Wembanyama were his most in a game all postseason. His 28.6 field-goal percentage was his second-worst, ahead of only Game 5 against the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference Finals (26.7 percent).

This postseason has been revelatory for Towns and his fit with the Knicks. It wasn't that long ago when there was talk of a potential rift between the six-time All-Star and head coach Mike Brown.

Now, Towns has been an invaluable part of New York's run to the Finals. He has changed his style of play in some ways, becoming more of a facilitator than ever before with 5.7 assists per game in 15 playoff starts.

Towns is also averaging 1.3 blocks and 1.1 steals per game in the postseason. His scoring efficiency is as good as it has ever been, with 17.0 points per contest on 56.2 percent shooting (46.8 percent from three).

Wednesday was an incredible start for Towns and the Knicks. The next test will be adjusting to what Wembanyama and the Spurs change as they look to even things up.

After that Game 5 performance against Oklahoma City, Wembanyama responded with 28 points on 10-of-21 shooting in 29 minutes the following game. It seems unlikely he will struggle all series, but Towns definitely gave him a lot to think about going forward.

Game 2 between the Knicks and Spurs will be played on Friday at 8:30 p.m. ET.