Karl-Anthony Towns practiced Tuesday after leaving Sunday’s game briefly against Boston and said he would see how his knee felt Wednesday before determining whether he’d play against the 76ers at Madison Square Garden.
Towns was listed as questionable on the injury report, while Josh Hart also practiced Tuesday and Tom Thibodeau expected him to be good for Wednesday’s game after missing two straight with a knee injury before returning Sunday.
Towns is averaging 24.8 points and a career-best 13.5 rebounds per game.
Asked if he believed he was having the best season of his career, Towns said: “I don’t know. I don’t know. I feel like I’ve had some really, really great seasons. I think the only constant in all that is I continue to put the work in, regardless of what people thought or not. I’ll let the fans decide that.”
As long as he stays healthy, the Knicks should be in good shape — though they haven’t been against three of the top teams in the league, as the Knicks are winless in seven games versus Boston, Cleveland and Oklahoma City.
“We understand we have certain expectations on us and we want to fulfill those and also exceed them,’’ Towns said. “Those teams, we haven’t played the best against this year and we haven’t come out on top. But we stay confident in this locker room, continue to move forward, continue to find ourselves getting better every single day. We’re hoping we can be the best version of ourselves and this team when it’s playoff time and the time is needed.”
After falling flat versus Boston and Cleveland in their past two games, the Knicks will take on perhaps the league’s most disappointing team, the 76ers, Wednesday at MSG.
It’s a rematch of their first-round matchup a year ago, won by the Knicks in six games.
Now, the Sixers have lost eight straight and are outside playoff contention.
They’ll be without Joel Embiid again Wednesday, as the star center was ruled out with injury management.
He’s appeared in just 19 games this season after playing in only 39 during last year’s regular season.
Cameron Payne was on last year’s Philadelphia team and appeared in five games in the playoff series versus the Knicks.
The 30-year-old has become a key contributor for the Knicks this year following his lone season with the 76ers.
Payne said he’s surprised by how much his former team has dropped off.
“Because on paper, I know what a great team they have,’’ Payne said. “They just need to get healthy. I was there. I know what they’re about. They’re a good team. Even with people being out, you have to watch them. We have to prepare for them.”
He said the series between the two teams “comes up all the time” now that Payne is a Knick.
“I’m on the Knicks side now,’’ Payne said. “They remember it. They don’t let it go. … It’s cool man. I love it here.”
