Ernie Johnson corrects Shaqs surprise praise of Karl-Anthony Towns after brutal Knicks Game 2

Shaquille O’Neal seemed to really like what Karl-Anthony Towns did in Game 2 for the Knicks on Monday night.His broadcast partner had to offer a friendly reminder of how things actually went down in New York’s loss.

“He played like a real big man tonight.I’m happy for KAT,” O’Neal said during “Inside the NBA” after the Pistons took the win.

The problem was that Towns did not even score a point in the second half, nor did he attempt a shot in the fourth quarter in a game where the Knicks mounted a late rally but fell 100-94.Johnson reminded O’Neal of this info as the TNT show continued to broadcast highlights of the game.“Well, he did in the first half,” Johnson replied to O’Neal’s “big man” comment.

He didn’t score in the second half.”The Basketball Hall of Famer seemed surprised, replying: “Oh, wow.”Towns finished with just 10 points, only the third time this year he scored 10 or fewer points in a game.O’Neal’s response to Towns’ down game was the polar opposite of Stephen A.Smith, who took the Knicks big man to task on ESPN’s “First Take” on Tuesday morning and said he needed to do more to support Jalen Brunson.“Last night we’re lamenting him not shooting at all,” Smith said.

“Wait a minute, you’ve gotta shoot! You take three shot attempts in the second half, you go scoreless in the second half — at the Garden — against a young, up-and-coming Detroit Pistons team.This wasn’t the reigning defending champion Boston Celtics he was going up against.

… We expected more from him.”“If nothing else, you can put up some points.Do that,” Smith continued.

“If you ain’t doing that, you literally serve no purpose.” The effort marked the sixth time in his playoff career that he could not exceed the 10-point mark.“I was executing what we said we wanted to do,” Towns said afterward.

“Just maybe, you always wish you could get one of those long rebounds, loose balls.It was something that g...