Karl-Anthony Towns shines but Draymond Green gets last laugh as Knicks fall to Warriors

SAN FRANCISCO — The nice guy won more battles but lost the game. Facing callous bully Draymond Green, Karl-Anthony Towns produced a game-high 29 points with a game-high 12 rebounds before fouling out with 6.1 seconds remaining.But the center, along with his Knicks teammates, faltered down the stretch and allowed Green the final taunt Saturday night in the Warriors’ 97-94 victory. The Knicks (42-24) went cold in the final 2:45, failing miserably down the stretch without injured closer Jalen Brunson. Green hit the dagger — a lay-up with 25 seconds left that gave the Warriors a six-point lead.

He then skipped down the court with his hands on the side of his face, the ‘goodnight’ gesture made famous by Steph Curry in the Olympics. The backdrop was a reckless comment from Green, who spread a rumor on his podcast that Towns missed a game against the Warriors this month at MSG because he was ducking longtime nemesis Jimmy Butler.Green figured Towns was faking an injury, although he acknowledged, “I didn’t look that deep into it to figure out what his injury was.” In reality, Towns missed the game to attend the funeral of a close family friend who died after a long battle with breast cancer.In the aftermath, Green, who has tried to bully Towns for years, was unapologetic and plugged his podcast.

Towns offered, “I choose to approach that with love, not hate.” Appropriately, Green lined up as the primary defender on Towns for most of the evening.And it started exquisitely for the Knicks center.

In the game’s first possession, Towns blew past Green on a pump fake for a dunk. Within six minutes, Towns had 11 points and five rebounds.It felt personal.

But the adrenaline also backfired.Towns succumbed to early foul trouble.

And with 8:08 left in the second quarter, tensions spilled over. Towns and Green locked up on the perimeter, with the Knicks center getting whistled for a loose ball foul.It was already the third infraction on Towns, which p...