Mike Brown unlocked Karl-Anthony Towns by borrowing from Domantas Sabonis

Towns actually regressed in regular-season assists year-over-year as the Knicks switched coaches from Tom Thibodeau to Brown.

And then the Knicks switched offensive ideologies.

Towns now leads the NBA playoffs in assists per possession and is averaging 9.3 assists since Game 4 of the Knicks’ first-round playoff series against the Atlanta Hawks.

“We kind of figured it out along the way. [KAT and Sabonis] do a lot of stuff that are similar,” Brown said. “You have an idea [coming into a new job with a new team] of what you want to do offensively [and] defensively, but then it’s your job as a coach to try to figure out, ‘Does this really fit the group that you have in front of you?’”

That answer changed in an, at times, tumultuous Knicks season. Brown changed the offense once in the middle of the year after the Knicks lost nine out of 11 games walking into the 2026 calendar year. He changed it again after consecutive one-point losses in the first round against the Hawks, losses that sent the Knicks searching for answers that ultimately came from within.

“That’s why it’s always tough to do things in Year 1, because it takes some time to get used to the group, not just what their strengths are as skill players, but their personalities and other things that make them tick,” he said. “Trying to put a guy like Sabonis at his strength, trying to put a guy like KAT at his strength is something that, as a head coach, it’s my job to think constantly about, as long as it enhances everybody else.”

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As head coach, collaborating is one of Brown’s responsibilities, and his willingness to do so is a large part of what earned him the job as Thibodeau’s replacement. As a collaborator, it’s on Brown to field ideas from top to bottom.

“I take suggestions from everybody. And at the end of the day it’s up for me to make the decision of yay or nay,” he said on Friday. “I’ve always been a guy who if you come to me with suggestions especially as a coach. You have to have something to back it up. Some video or analytics.

“At the end of the day, I have to say this makes sense let’s do it, but this is how we’re going to do it.”

Towns was one of the many voices echoing a need for offensive change when the Knicks lost Games 2 and 3 of their first-round playoff series against the Atlanta Hawks.

“You’re down 2-1, obviously it’s not the end of the world, but you guys understand the importance of the next game,” he said. “To go in [to talk to your coach], and say how you feel, what you feel is your idea, and see if it’s received — And it was received. I’m glad we’re not talking about 2-2.”

The change was clear: The Knicks began aggressively using their mismatch at center in ways they seemed incapable of during the regular season. Towns recorded two triple doubles — the first playoff triple doubles of his career — over the final three games of the Hawks series. He then averaged 7.5 assists over the four-game sweep of the Philadelphia 76ers in Round 2.

For Towns, who averaged 24.4 points per game under Thibodeau last season, it never about more points. He wanted to feel more regularly included within the Knicks’ offensive flow.

“I’ve always said since the beginning, I’ll do whatever it takes to impact winning,” he said on Friday. “I’m glad I’ve been able to do that with this changing role and be able to help our team win. That’s the most important thing. And utilize my talent.”

It took Brown 85 games to make the change, but the role is one Miles McBride knew Towns was capable of all along — provided he demanded the ball and forcefully established an advantageous position for himself on the floor.

“I felt like it was always something he was capable of,” McBride said on Friday. “You don’t get a lot of practice time. I always feel like it’s tough to figure it out — but again — that’s what the regular season is for.”

The regular season is long gone. As are the first two rounds of the playoffs for a Knicks team eagerly awaiting the conference finals. The offense could change again. Brown will field suggestions and make the changes he deems necessary to lift the Knicks to their first Finals appearance in a quarter-century — or their first title since 1973.

He’s already made the most consequential adjustment. That’s more effectively utilizing the most talented player on the Knicks’ roster. Brown, using a familiar formula from his days in Sacramento, has finally freed the Big KAT from a cage far too small for his skill set.

And the Knicks are better for it.

“He’s done a great job of adjusting our team to give us the best chance to win,” Towns said of Brown. “The spot we’re in now is because of his courage and trust to change what we were doing and putting us in a better position.”