UPDATE: After initially being listed as questionable with a quad injury, Karl-Anthony Towns ($8,500) was briefly downgraded to doubtful for Wednesday’s regular season opener vs. the Cavaliers. However, he’s now back to questionable. Welcome back, NBA injury reports.
Last season, Towns was outstanding in his first season with the Knicks, averaging 24.4 points and a career-high 12.8 rebounds per game with a 27.4% usage rate. Towns missing this season opener would obviously be concerning. After Wednesday, New York next plays Friday vs. the Celtics.
The Knicks will be without Josh Hart (back) and Mitchell Robinson (ankle) on Wednesday, which could leave the club very thin for this matchup with the Cavaliers, who lead the Eastern Conference with a 64-18 record last season.
If Towns is missing alongside Robinson and Hart, Guerschon Yabusele ($3,800) would likely start at center in his New York debut and see a large role. After competing overseas for five years, the French professional made his return to the NBA last season with the 76ers and averaged 11.0 points, 5.7 rebounds and 2.1 assists in 27.1 minutes per game. Yabusele should handle over 30 minutes tonight with the Knicks shorthanded, and at only $3,800 for DFS on DraftKings, the 29-year-old is an elite punt play.
Also, Jalen Brunson’s ($8,600) already huge workload should grow even further with Towns on the sidelines. In the eight starts Brunson made without Towns last season, Brunson averaged 30.3 PPG with a 33.6% usage rate — which was a 3.4 percentage point increase from his average — resulting in 44.6 FPTS per game for the guard.
However, the Knicks struggled as a team in those games with Brunson active but Towns inactive, posting a 3-5 record. Cleveland is a 3.5-point road favorite over the Knicks on DraftKings Sportsbook for Wednesday’s matchup and backing the Cavaliers in this situation makes a ton of sense. Last season, Cleveland was 4-0 vs. New York and the Cavaliers were a strong 52-38-1 ATS overall, which was the second-best ATS record in the NBA. — Alex Hunter
The New York Knicks begin their 2025-26 season on Wednesday, but one of the team’s stars may wind up playing through an injury to start the campaign. Star center Karl-Anthony Towns is questionable for Wednesday’s season opener against the Cleveland Cavaliers due to a quadriceps issue.
With limited action in the preseason and the regular season yet to begin, the injury designation may not be anything serious. Rather, it could be more of a housekeeping measure if the 29-year-old big man is dealing with some kind of minor issue. One can probably expect him to take the court on Wednesday night, but his status will remain one to keep an eye on for prop bet and DFS lineup purposes.
Towns appeared revitalized as a member of the Knicks last year alongside star guard Jalen Brunson. In his first season in blue and orange, the sharpshooting center averaged 24.4 PPG while shooting 52.6% from the field and 42.0% from three-point range. Towns also pulled down a career-best 12.8 rebounds per contest while dishing out 3.1 assists on average.
He remains a massive part of the Knicks’ game plan on offense and a clear-cut 1B option behind Brunson’s 1A. If Towns misses this contest, the New York frontcourt depth may struggle to deal with a big Cavaliers lineup that includes Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen. With Mitchell Robinson (load management) and Josh Hart (back) already ruled out, the frontcourt looks thin as Guerschon Yabusele likely starts at center with Ariel Hukporti behind him.
The Knicks finished the previous regular season with a 51-31 record and made it to the Eastern Conference Finals before falling to the Indiana Pacers. With several roster acquisitions for the bench over the offseason as well as a new head coach in Mike Brown, New York now looks to take advantage of a wide-open Eastern Conference and compete for another deep playoff run. — Keagan Smith