Karl-Anthony Towns impressed as the New York Knicks stormed back from an 18-point fourth-quarter deficit to take down the Houston Rockets 108-106 at Madison Square Garden on Saturday. Towns had come under fire from Shaquille O’Neal for playing soft before this game, but the Hall of Famer loved what he saw from the big man against the Rockets.
So, when Towns appeared on Inside the NBA postgame, O’Neal praised him for his approach. What should have been a feel-good conversation soon turned awkward, however.
Shaquille O’Neal: “At the beginning of the game, I said you were playing soft because I’ve seen you at times when you play great. And what you must understand in New York, you need to be great for you guys to win the championship. It’s high aspirations. If you guys win the championship, of course, they’re gonna talk about [Jalen] Brunson, but it’s you and your play. You have to be dominant. You responded very, very well. You played well, you played in the paint, that’s how you should play. You should always play great. Being from Jersey, good ain’t good enough. You had a great game tonight. I’m proud of you.”
Karl-Anthony Towns: “Nah, for sure. But what you said, too, if we win a championship, they can talk about anybody as long as we all get a ring. That’s the most important thing. I don’t care about none of that.”
O’Neal: “No, but you gotta play great. 1-2 punch, and you’re a part of that 1-2 punch.”
Towns: “Hell yeah, but I wanna make sure we all understand that the biggest goal, the main goal here, is to win. It don’t matter about who gets the credit or whatever.”
O’Neal: “It ain’t about that, you gotta play great. Nope, you gotta play great to get the credit.”
Towns: “I hear you. Legend, I agree with you.”
This Shaq/KAT convo got awkward real quick pic.twitter.com/NYSVCkApIM
— Big Knick Energy (@BigKnickEnergy_) February 22, 2026
That certainly wasn’t how you’d have imagined this interaction would go with how it started. O’Neal did not like how Towns responded and made it clear later on that he doesn’t want to see players respond in that manner when he challenges them.
“I’m not saying be mean all that, it’s about mentality,” O’Neal said. “When I tell you, you gotta do this and do that, don’t respond by saying, ‘Oh, I’m trying to look out for everybody.’ No, no, you gotta be great.”
Charles Barkley then had to remind O’Neal that everyone doesn’t have the same mental makeup. Barkley thinks that Towns is a good player and a nice guy, who they cannot turn into a killer. That is indeed true.
Towns isn’t wired the same way as O’Neal, but he is still very much capable of dominating on the court. The six-time All-Star had 25 points (10-15 FG), seven rebounds, one assist, and one steal against the Rockets here. This was his fourth-straight 20-point game, his longest streak of the season.
Towns has been far from his best in 2025-26, and the Knicks would be hoping he keeps this up the rest of the way. They improved to 36-21 with this win and will take on the Chicago Bulls next at the United Center on Sunday at 8 PM ET.
