Karl-Anthony Towns finally got to shine in Game 1 of the NBA Finals -- and take on Victor Wembanyama

The Knicks did not play their best basketball early Wednesday night. Once again, they had a long layoff between series. And once again, just like against the Cavaliers in the conference finals, the Knicks struggled at times to start Game 1 of the NBA Finals against the Spurs in San Antonio.

Karl-Anthony Towns didn't seem worried. At one point, while the Knicks were trying to find their footing, the game broadcast caught KAT giving his teammates a pep talk during a timeout. Generally, the mic'd up footage is a bunch of useless anodyne pablum. Not this time. Towns had a message. 

"We gotta keep playing defense," he told his teammates. "This will win us the game. Our offense will always catch up. It did in Game 1 against Cleveland. We'll be fine."

They kept playing defense, especially against Victor Wembanyama. After being down 14 in the third quarter, they held the Spurs to just 19 in the fourth. It did win them the game. Their offense did catch up, just as it did in Game 1 against Cleveland. They were fine, precisely as KAT predicted.

Towns' comments came off as cool and calm. He sounded confident, not just in the team but in himself. He sounded like a leader. It was striking in a way. KAT has been a divisive player for much of his career. He has been called corny and cringe, annoying and zesty. For much of his career, he was known for complaining to the refs, which frustrated former teammates like Anthony Edwards, who just wanted him to "stop f---ing fouling."

KAT went to the Western Conference Finals with the Timberwolves -- and then they traded him anyway. It was the best thing that ever happened to his career and his reputation. In New York, he has been transformed into the Big Bodega, a man embraced by teammates and fans alike. It's hard to imagine the Minnesota version of Towns delivering a much-needed speech in Game 1 of the Finals, and even harder to imagine anyone listening.

But it wasn't just talk. Towns' Game 1 performance was one of the best of his career at a time when his team needed it the most. He finished with 18 points, 12 rebounds and four assists, along with several offensive boards in critical moments -- more than one of which he secured by beating Wemby to the ball with extra effort -- that allowed the Knicks to be +9 in second-chance points for the game. That was crucial to New York clawing its way back from a 14-point deficit in the third quarter. 

But more than anything, the most impressive and important contribution from Towns was his defense against Wembanyama. That is obviously and literally no small task. The Oklahoma City Thunder had no answer for Wemby, up to, including and especially the guy who finished second in the Defensive Player of the Year voting behind him. Chet Holmgren wanted no part of Wembanyama in the Western Conference Finals. Towns, by contrast, seemed to relish the assignment. 

Unlike Holmgren, Towns is not known for his defense. He's been considerably better at that end this season, but traditionally, he's no one's idea of an All-Defensive Team big. But he's also unlike Holmgren in other important ways: he's stronger and thicker and, in Game 1, willing to do everything he could to make Wembanyama work. 

Towns and the Knicks seemed to understand what the Thunder struggled to grasp: being physical with Wembanyama and keeping away from the rim -- or at least making it difficult for him to touch paint -- is paramount. The thinking coming into this series was that guarding Wemby would be an all-hands-on-deck situation. Mitchell Robinson, OG Anunoby, Josh Hart, everyone would get a turn. That was true in the first game and it will likely remain the case going forward. But KAT drew the primary assignment and accepted it willingly. Maybe the most remarkable part was that he pulled it off with two of his six allotted fouls still to spare. 

Wembanyama still had a double-double and went 12 for 13 from the free-throw line. But he was wildly inefficient from the floor, making just six of his 21 shots. He took nine 3s and hit only two. The Knicks are no doubt more than happy with that shot diet and the results it didn't yield for San Antonio. 

After the game, Wemby admitted "I was bad tonight" and added, "It's not more complicated than that." And he was bad, but there was more to it than him simply not playing well. There was a Big Bodega-sized reason why it was tough sledding for him.

Towns had things to say after the game, too. He talked about how people often focus on the pressure of playing in the NBA Finals, but how he didn't feel that way going into Game 1. Instead, he "felt a calm and peace" in the run-up and during the game. As though his mother, who died during the pandemic, was there watching over him. 

He had just won the biggest game of his life to date, and yet he sounded at ease. He sounded comfortable. He sounded -- and played -- like he belonged on that stage, like it wasn't too much for him. Because for this version of Towns, he does, and it isn't.