Knicks’ Karl-Anthony Towns is playing the best defense of his career

“Actually switching on the guards,” he told The News. “Today it was one of those moments where I had to guard an All-Star like Jalen Johnson and my team just trusted me to meet the moment.”

That moment came with 8:48 to go in the second quarter. The scouting report told Johnson, much like it told McCollum, to attack with Towns as his primary defender. Johnson had Towns isolated at the top of the key and turned a between-the-legs crossover into a hesitation drive down the middle of the lane. It didn’t fool Towns, who stood his ground, absorbed the contact, then punched Johnson’s floater attempt out of the sky.

“I always think defense is about effort and energy. So when everybody’s locked in, I always feel like it’s never one guy’s fault,” said Miles McBride. “It’s never one guy’s problem. It’s a whole team thing. So when everybody’s locked in, it just carries over.”

Towns doesn’t need to open social media to understand what the critics say about his defense. He can see it through opposing game plans, though the opponents’ desire to attack him in pick-and-roll and isolation situations. He knows opponents consider defense a weakness in his game.

“I think it’s personal anytime you step on the court, sure,” Towns said. “You want to be the best version of yourself against your competitors. So, yeah. All of us are just competing at the highest level against each other. You want to do your best.”

For what it’s worth, McBride doesn’t agree with the scouting report on his All-Star teammate. He’s watching Towns play the best defense of his career.

“I wouldn’t know. I don’t know what people really say,” he said. “For us, he’s great. So, I’m always going to rock with him. I believe in him.”

BEYOND THE BOXSCORE

Towns’ averages of 1.8 blocks and 1.4 steals mark the best defensive playoff series of his career. He had three blocks and a steal in Game 1, two blocks in Game 2, two blocks and two steals in Games 3 and 5, and two steals in Game 4.

Those are only the counting stats, numbers failing to account for deterred shots and solid defensive rotations that force turnovers or contested shots elsewhere on the floor.

Towns, for example, had to defend four different players on one possession with 1:47 left in the second quarter on Tuesday, first the cross-court pass to Onyeka Okongwu, then the swing-swing that left him on Dyson Daniels, and then another swing to McCollum after Josh Hart lost his footing on a cut to the rim. Towns was not credited with a block or steal on this play, but he rotated efficiently and forced a miss on McCollum’s floater. The Hawks’ guard had a miserable 3-of-10 shooting night.

“[KAT’s defense] has been pretty good. You have to give him a lot of credit,” head coach Mike Brown said ahead of tipoff on Tuesday. “He was trying to rebound, trying to be strong when he switches onto the small, he’s trying to sit down. He just has to keep pushing himself, including transition and all, so that we can be impactful or effective on that floor.”

There were hiccups, of course. Team defense remains a work in progress. On two separate possessions, Brunson and Towns had defensive miscues that led to wide-open Dyson Daniels field goals: first with 5:30 left in the second quarter, when neither of the All-Stars shifted over to Daniels behind the 3-point line, then again with 6:25 to go in the third, when Brunson gambled on a steal in a pick-and-roll scenario. Daniels got a free roll to the rim before Towns realized the Hawks guard was wide-open.

“You can tell [Towns] is working [on defense], particularly in the pick and roll,” said Hawks head coach Quin Snyder. “We have some guys [on our team] we need to attack [on offense]. One of the biggest things for us is making people move. Everyone is a better defender individually and collectively on a front side. That’s not something we’ve done at the level I believe we can do it.”

The Knicks will be tested by a far superior offensive team in the second round. If it’s the Boston Celtics, who are up 3-2 in their first-round series, head coach Joe Mazzulla will certainly draw up plays tailored to attack the Knicks’ All-Star center. If the Philadelphia 76ers pull the upset, it’ll be Joel Embiid going toe-to-toe with Towns for a vintage battle between superstar bigs.

Towns wants desperately not just to be a Knick, but to deliver the franchise he grew up idolizing its first NBA title since 1973. On his walk from the interview room out of MSG, he wore a black leather jacket decorated in the logos of each of New York’s pro sports franchises. He wore a New York Yankees Subway Series fitted cap turned backwards and another World Series oversized T-shirt atop his baggy jeans.

For the Knicks to reach heights unseen in more than 50 years, Towns will need to continue playing the kind of defense he’s proven capable of during this playoff stretch.

“[KAT’s] been playing great [defense]. I can’t express that enough, and he’s been locked in,” Brunson said at the podium after the game. “He talked about voicing opinions and things that we needed to do for us to be successful. And I think us just communicating, being on the same page, and everybody has helped us.

“But particularly him — he’s been great.”