Karl-Anthony Towns put his stamp on Knicks’ Game 1 win over Hawks in more ways than one

Much was made about Karl-Anthony Towns’ regular-season dominance over the Atlanta Hawks, so his slow start to Game 1 of their first-round playoff series stood out.

Towns attempted only one shot in the first quarter, didn’t score until there was 4:50 left in the first half, and didn’t make a basket until there was 2:53 remaining before the break.

This was after Hawks head coach Quin Snyder acknowledged during his pregame press conference that the towering Towns presented a difficult challenge for his team’s undersized, banged-up front court.

But Towns took over when it mattered most, scoring 11 of his 25 points in the fourth quarter to help lead the Knicks to a 113-102 win at Madison Square Garden.

“The ball went in for him in the second half,” head coach Mike Brown said.

The 7-foot Towns averaged 28.5 points on 62.9% shooting and 13.5 rebounds per game in two regular-season meetings with the Hawks, who traded away 7-2 center Kristaps Porzingis in February and are currently missing 6-11 backup center Jock Landale due to an ankle injury.

But Towns began Saturday’s playoff game as a facilitator, repeatedly looking for cutters rather than chasing his own shots.

Towns assisted on two of the Knicks’ first three field goals — both to Jalen Brunson — and recorded three assists before he made his first basket.

“I wanted to know — they had a week of practice — to see what their game plan was,” Towns said. “Seeing the pressure, when you’ve got someone like [Brunson] and the amazing teammates we’ve got, I wanted to make sure to get them going early.”

That helped Brunson erupt for 19 points on 8-of-11 shooting in the first quarter.

“In the first half, he facilitated a lot,” Brown said of Towns. “We played through him. He made some great passes for some easy buckets, and so we’re just trying to mix it up for him.”

Scoring was a grind for Towns early on, however. He went into halftime with six points on 1-of-6 shooting, and he was 2-of-9 from the field going into the fourth quarter.

Meanwhile, his counterpart, 6-10 Hawks center Onyeka Okongwu, scored 10 points in the first half and finished with 19, going 4-of-6 from 3-point range.