Karl-Anthony Towns’ worrying ‘broke’ moment a potential Knicks injury disaster

Karl-Anthony Towns doubled over in pain in the second quarter Saturday, clutching and shaking his left hand after drawing contact while driving to the rim.

The All-Star center remained in the game and ended up logging 36 minutes, but he finished just 5-for-18 from the field in a 115-93 loss to the Celtics at the Garden in Game 3 of the second round.

Still, according to amateur lip readers on social media, it appeared that Towns said later in the game that he believed he “broke” something on the play.

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“It is what it is. I just want to do whatever I can to be out there,” Towns said afterward. “It is what it is. I’m gonna keep finding ways to play, so I ain’t tripping.”

Towns finished with 21 points and 10 rebounds in Game 3, with most of his point total attributable to getting to the free-throw line for 11 attempts and sinking 10 of them.

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But the 7-footer also missed 4-of-5 tries from 3-point range to fall to 1-for-7 in the series after he nailed 42 percent during the regular season and 48 percent in six games in the first round against the Pistons.

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Towns, who missed one game while dealing with a right-hand issue in January, got tangled up with Al Horford and Jrue Holiday on a drive with a little more than seven minutes remaining in Saturday’s second quarter.

The “I think I broke it” moment captured by ABC cameras came late in the half after Towns fought Luke Kornet for a rebound. The New Jersey product also was shown wincing in the third quarter after a foul called against Holiday.

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“But you have to understand that you can play well when you’re feeling less than your best. I think the mental toughness part of this is huge.”

Towns declined to say whether he underwent an X-ray or other tests on his wrist or hand, saying he’d “let [the Knicks] tell you that.”

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The five-time All-Star is averaging 19.7 points per game in the playoffs, almost five points below his regular-season scoring output of 24.4 ppg in his first season with the Knicks following a trade from the Timberwolves.